Latest news with #R4.3-billion
eNCA
3 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
Treasury shoots down SANDF funding criticism
JOHANNESBURG - National Treasury is responding to criticism from Navy Chief Admiral Monde Lobese. He accused Treasury of sabotaging the SANDF during a Joint Standing Committee of Defence meeting. Lobese says Treasury cannot operate like a super department or a government on its own. The SANDF has been allocated 1.7 percent of the country's GDP, just over R57-billion. But, Treasury has hit back, saying it's wrong to suggest the department is responsible for the army's funding crisis. It says Cabinet decides on allocations. In addition to funding distributed for this financial year, the SANDF has also been allocated R4.3-billion in the 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and R5.5-billion for early retirement for the current and next financial years.
eNCA
3 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
Treasury fires back at SANDF funding criticism
JOHANNESBURG - National Treasury is responding to criticism from Navy Chief Admiral Monde Lobese. He accused Treasury of sabotaging the SANDF during a Joint Standing Committee of Defence meeting. Lobese says Treasury cannot operate like a super department or a government on its own. The SANDF has been allocated 1.7 percent of the country's GDP, just over R57-billion. But, Treasury has hit back, saying it's wrong to suggest the department is responsible for the army's funding crisis. It says Cabinet decides on allocations. In addition to funding distributed for this financial year, the SANDF has also been allocated R4.3-billion in the 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and R5.5-billion for early retirement for the current and next financial years.
The Citizen
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Indigent write-offs don't skew Tshwane metro figures
The Tshwane metro is currently celebrating a 'record-breaking' revenue collection rate of 98% for the 2024/25 financial year. However, it has insisted that the R4.3-billion which was written off recently for indigent accounts, did not inflate the above figure and was aligned with responsible governance. Deputy Mayor and MMC for Finance, Eugene Modise, described the collection rate as a significant step toward financial stability, saying it reflects the commitment of paying residents. 'We are extremely proud to report this level of revenue collection, said Modise. 'It reflects a collective effort between the municipality and residents who continue to meet their obligations, even in challenging economic times.' The metro collected R40.5-billion in cash revenue against its funding plan target of R41.3-billion, reducing its annual shortfall to R784- million. Modise confirmed that over R4.25-billion in long-standing municipal debt was written off. He explained that this was not part of the revenue collection figures and explained that it was defrayed against an existing allowance for doubtful debt, which is a requirement under municipal accounting rules. 'The write-off does not burden paying residents because the metro has an indigent policy.' Modise said they also receive an equitable share from the national government to subsidise basic services for indigent households. The metro's equitable share allocation for 2024/25 stands at R4.3-billion – equivalent to the written-off debt. He attributed much of the revenue success to an incentive scheme and amnesty programme implemented earlier this year. 'Between March and May, 20 075 customers came forward to normalise tampered or inactive meters. 'In addition, 85 361 residents benefited from a R2.4-billion debt write-off, and over 31 000 dormant accounts amounting to R1.8-billion were cleared.' According to Modise, the metro also recovered R154-million through settlement agreements with 1 076 customers. He said the incentive scheme allowed many households and businesses to settle accounts that had been problematic for years. 'It's encouraging to see how this proactive step brought customers back into the fold and boosted revenue collections,' Modise said. He also dismissed concerns that amnesty programmes encourage non-payment. He explained that outstanding accounts are levied interest and subject to credit control measures like electricity disconnections and water restrictions. 'It would not be worthwhile for customers to default in anticipation of an amnesty that the council may not implement again.' Modise said revenue collection directly supports basic services like water, electricity, sanitation and waste removal. He noted that the metro's Rand Water account has been kept current and its Eskom bill is up to date under a settlement arrangement. However, he acknowledged ongoing challenges with erratic water and electricity supply, attributing many issues to vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure such as transformers. To prevent future multi-billion rand write-offs, the metro has adopted a mayoral charter on revenue enhancement and financial recovery. 'The credit control campaigns, such as Tshwane Ya Tima, and strict enforcement of debt collection policies will continue. 'Paying for municipal services is a civic duty and a vital contribution to building a prosperous capital city for all,' Modise said. He urged residents who are struggling financially to approach the municipal offices or use the e-Tshwane platform for payment options. Modise also warned residents not to pay staff or middlemen for assistance, emphasising that all metro services are free. ALSO READ: Storm brews as ANC demands Tshwane city manager's appointment be set aside Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
You may not be able to get a Lotto ticket after today
'I do not accept that the sky will fall' says judge The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has failed in its bid to change a recent court ruling limiting the temporary licence to operate the lottery to five months. This means ticket sales may stop before Sunday, 1 June. The current licence, held by Ithuba Holdings, expires on Saturday. After that, their sister company, Ithuba Lottery, was supposed to take over the licence for a period of twelve months. But after last week's Gauteng High Court ruling that the issuing of the temporary licence is unconstitutional and can only be issued for five months, Ithuba Lottery said a five-month licence is financially unfeasible and may not continue operating the lottery after Saturday. And the new licence holder, Sizekhaya Holdings, which is set to take over from Ithuba Lottery for a period of eight years, will need at least nine months to set up its operations. The NLC therefore applied to change the court order to allow a twelve-month licence. But Judge Omphemetse Mooki ruled against them on Friday. Will funding stop? A source at the NLC told GroundUp that the board is in emergency meetings to discuss the way forward. If lottery ticket sales do stop after Saturday, the National Lottery Distribution Fund does still have about R4.3-billion in reserves to continue issuing grants to good causes. The NLC's application, which was heard urgently on Thursday at the High Court in Pretoria, was opposed by Wina Njalo, one of the companies that bid on the lottery licence tender. Wina Njalo argued that the NLC was seeking to relitigate the same issues that had already been heard by the court. If it was found that five months was not enough time, it argued, then the NLC could approach the court at that stage. It said the application to vary the order was yet another example of how the NLC was seeking to favour the Ithuba companies and they were not entitled to insist on making a profit, given that Ithuba Holdings had already made 'huge profits' by operating the lottery for the last 10 years. In his ruling, Judge Mooki said the issue was whether it was just and equitable to extend the period that the temporary licence can operate before it is declared invalid and, in doing so, interfere with the discretion exercised by another court. Such interference was 'very sparingly exercised'. He said he was not persuaded that the NLC had made out a case. 'There is no substantive support that Ithuba Lottery will suffer a loss of R51-million unless it is granted a temporary licence for 12 months. There was complete silence from Ithuba Lottery. It did not file any affidavits,' the Judge said. He pointed to the fact that the NLC on 22 May 2025, when it was aware of Judge Potterill's order, had written to Ithuba Lottery requesting it sign a licence to operate for 12 months. 'It was thus inviting the Ithuba Lottery to sign an agreement that would breach the order made on May 21.' While the NLC had disclosed the response from Ithuba Lottery, it had not disclosed its own letter. ALSO READ: Big change to Lotto operations: Will tickets be on sale next week? 5 months could be long enough Judge Mooki said the NLC had also not put up any evidence that Sizekhaya needed more than five months to set up operations. In fact, as Wina Njalo had pointed out, a condition of the fourth licence was that the successful bidder must be able to operate within five to six months of being awarded the licence. He said in claiming that its reserves would be significantly depleted should there be no operator after 1 June, the NLC had 'over-egged the pudding'. 'I do not accept that the sky will fall after 1 June should Ithuba Lottery refuse to sign an agreement to conduct lottery operations as determined in (Potterill's) order,' he said. The request for proposals for the temporary licence was issued when it became apparent that Minister Parks Tau would not meet the strict deadlines to announce the new lottery licence holder, giving it time to take over operations. He only made the announcement on 28 May, just three days before the expiration of Ithuba's licence. He has yet to provide reasons for the delay. This article originally appeared on GroundUp and was republished with permission. Read the original article here. NOW READ: SIU is not done with NLC yet, as more corruption allegations emerge
