– Musina owes about R108 million to Eskom, cannot pay creditors within the statutory 30 days, and projects that it will only achieve a funded budget in 2028/29.
– Provincial Treasury says Musina’s voluntary Financial Recovery Plan is “not satisfactory and has no impact” and should be made mandatory.
– The DA calls for decisive intervention under section 139(5) of the Constitution.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo calls on the Limpopo Provincial Executive to act on Provincial Treasury’s recommendation and place Musina Local Municipality under a mandatory financial recovery intervention in terms of section 139(5) of the Constitution, following confirmation that Musina owes approximately R108 million to Eskom, cannot pay its creditors within the statutory 30-day period, and projects that it will only achieve a funded budget in 2028/29.
In a presentation to a joint meeting involving Provincial Treasury and the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Treasury stated that Musina’s voluntary Financial Recovery Plan is “not satisfactory and has no impact” because it is not being adhered to, and recommended that it be escalated from voluntary to mandatory.
Musina was also among the Limpopo municipalities affected by National Treasury’s July 2026 equitable-share intervention following persistent and serious MFMA non-compliance. National Treasury initially released only part of Musina’s July equitable share, withholding the balance until the municipality provided proof that the required creditor payments had been made.
Although the balance was subsequently released, Treasury made clear that this did not mean the underlying financial-governance failures had been resolved. Musina’s own admissions demonstrate the depth of the problem.
The municipality says its liquidity position remains so constrained that it cannot comply with section 65(2) of the MFMA, which requires creditors to be paid within 30 days.
Despite having an approved Budget Funding Plan and voluntary Financial Recovery Plan, Musina says it only expects to achieve a funded budget in 2028/29, while its 2025/26 adjustment budget remained unfunded because of continuing financial constraints.
There are equally serious concerns about financial capacity. Musina admits that staff shortages prevent it from preparing interim financial statements. A municipality cannot credibly recover from financial distress without the internal skills and reliable financial information needed to manage that recovery.
The DA is equally concerned that Musina reports reducing UIFWE by R396.5 million, yet does not disclose how much was recovered, how much was written off, or what consequences followed. If the ANC-majority Council has simply used its majority to clear UIFWE from the books without recovery or accountability, that would amount to impunity, not consequence management.
Musina’s financial distress is also constraining infrastructure delivery, with the municipality reducing its own-funded capital commitments, while procurement delays and the slow appointment of service providers are further hampering capital spending.
The DA’s 2026 Local Government Manifesto offers the opposite approach: adopt realistic and funded budgets, strengthen billing and revenue collection, enforce credit control, pay creditors on time, build capable municipal administrations and appoint competent officials on merit.
Musina cannot be allowed to drift from one unfunded budget to the next while residents are told that financial sustainability may only arrive in 2028/29. The time to intervene is now — before financial collapse.
The DA’s approach is to restore financial discipline now — collect what is owed, pay what is due and put capable people in charge — so that municipal finances support service delivery instead of undermining it.