South Africa's Treasury freezes funding for Musina and Makana municipalities over debt defaults

Musina Municipality in Limpopo province owes Eskom roughly R52 million. The National Treasury has withheld R96 million of the municipality’s allocation, agreeing to release 30 % after the council proves the funds will settle the Eskom debt.

Makana Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape faces a historic R613 million backlog of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Under Section 216(2) of the Constitution, the Treasury has frozen the town’s July 2026 equitable share allocation. Opposition leader Luvuyo Sizani warned that the council was kept in the dark about the penalty, saying, “It smells of a rat.” The South African Municipal Workers’ Union condemned the move as “collective punishment,” fearing immediate impacts on workers’ salaries, pensions and basic service delivery.