Department of Water and Sanitation owed more than R10 billion
Some R10.7-billion is owed to the Department of Water and Sanitation by a number of municipalities across the country.
The department says the amount emanates from outstanding payments from 186 municipalities.
Mpumalanga owes about R1-billion, followed by municipalities in Limpopo that owe R789-million.
KZN municipalities owe around R237-million.
Water and Sanitation's Sputnik Ratau says the situation is caused largely by municipalities' relaxed approach to outstanding debts.
"This has been a build up over time and obviously we have made a number of attempts to try and resolve it over time but we are reaching a point where we are seeing that we are not succeeding and that is why we've had to come to where we are. For us, really, if we do not recoup the money that we are owed, it will have a very negative impact on how we are going to be able to continue doing what we have to do," he says.
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