Finance
Whether the debt of any municipality in the Western Cape has been written off over the past three years; if not, why not; if so, (a) how much, and (b) for which categories of (i) services, (ii) residential and (iii) business areas?
[1] Yes, debts have been written off by most municipalities in the Province over the past three years [2010/11 to 2012/13]. The specific detail per municipality as per the audited financial statements for the period 2010/11 to 2012/13 has been set out in the table annexed hereto.
[a] In aggregate, as per the audited financial statements for the periods 2010/11 to 2012/13, the following debt amounts, per year, were written off over the past three financial years, i.e. 2010/11 to 2012/13:
- 2012/13 - R1.225 billion
- 2011/12 - R559.794 million
- 2010/11 - R447.700 million
The specific detail per municipality, per year, as per the audited financial statements for the period 2010/11 to 2012/13 has been set out in the table annexed hereto. The outcome for the 2013/14 audit process will only be available end November 2014.
[b] [i] – [iii]. In terms of the General Recognised Accounting Practice [GRAP] standards and disclosure requirement, it is not required of municipalities to disclose, in its disclosure and explanatory notes to the annual financial statements, the categories of [i] services, [ii] residential and [iii] business areas. The minimum GRAP requirement is to only disclose the total debt amount written off, of which the detail, as obtained from the AFS of each municipality, has been set out in the table annexed hereto.
