eThekwini councillors and staff owe R85 million in debt

A report from the eThekwini Municipality Finance Committee revealed that a total of 4,724 eThekwini councillors and staff owe R85 million. 

This was a R5 million increase from the September 2025 report on councillor and staff debt. The report presented at a council meeting on Thursday stated that 53 municipal councillors owe R2.4 million, while 4,671 employees owe R82.7 million.

The municipality stated that staff and councillors in arrears face credit control processes, including disconnections, credit bureau redlining, and legal action.

Furthermore, staff members in arrears for more than 90 days are subject to salary deductions. The report stated that while this is an effective tool for collecting from staff in arrears, the salary deduction is limited to 25% of net salary, which is sometimes insufficient to cover the arrears, leading to a continuous increase in staff debtors.

The municipality stated that a circular has been prepared in partnership with the eThekwini Human Capital unit for consideration and approval by the City Manager, Musa Mbhele. Should this not be successful, all employees in arrears for a period exceeding 90 days will be handed over to external debt collectors. 

Staff also have an option to utilise their leave to settle their arrears accounts. A report is submitted monthly to the eThekwini Speaker’s Office for councillors in arrears, and a list of staff in arrears is sent to heads of units on an ongoing basis. 

The municipal debt collection report stated that the municipality was owed R42 billion, with household debt R31 billion; parastatals R449 million, and government departments R2.4 billion. 

Councillor Andre Beetge, DA member of the Executive Committee, called for the municipality to intensify efforts through the Development Model (DDM) platform, the Presidential Task Team, and other channels to secure rightful funding, rather than drawing from an already strained municipal purse. 

eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said that debt overall remains a challenge, but the municipality is dealing with it decisively. 

ActionSA councillor Saul Basckin said that in October 2025, his party had advised eThekwini Council that revenue collection was at a critical stage and that unless they enforced consistent and fair credit control, the municipality would face a full-scale financial crisis. 

"We advised that the debt spiral was continuing at R400 million a month. We continue to collect less than our monthly billing. This is not just an accounting problem. It is a service-delivery problem. The truth is simple: our credit-control system is not working."

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za