North West Treasury backs 10 municipal grant rollover bids
Provincial Treasury head Ndlela Kunene says the applications, received from 10 municipalities, will be assessed by National Treasury under MFMA Circular No. 134.
The North West Provincial Treasury has received rollover applications from 10 municipalities for unspent infrastructure grants, and the requests will be assessed by National Treasury under the rules set out in Municipal Finance Management Act Circular No. 134.
The applications follow an engagement session on Municipal Unspent Infrastructure Grant Roll-Over, held by the Provincial Treasury with National Treasury, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and the National and Provincial Disaster Management Centres. The session was convened to help municipalities manage key infrastructure grants.
The circular sets out the rules, deadlines and documentation municipalities must supply when they apply to roll over unspent conditional grants, in terms of Section 21(2) of the 2025 Division of Revenue Act. Rollover requests must arise from unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances before they can be considered for approval.
Two grants were the focus of the session: the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and the Municipal Disaster Recovery Grant. Discussion centred on planning, expenditure, reporting and compliance with grant conditions.
Provincial Treasury Head of Department Ndlela Kunene said effective grant management matters for more than municipal financial performance and compliance. It is what ensures public resources translate into infrastructure and services that respond to communities’ needs, he said.
Kunene said the engagement took place against the backdrop of equitable share withholdings affecting municipalities, alongside a growing need for effective municipal responses to natural disasters that damage communities and infrastructure across the province.
“These pressures reinforce the importance of sound financial management, credible planning and effective coordination among municipalities and the provincial and national institutions responsible for supporting local government,” he said.
He said the Municipal Disaster Recovery Grant is particularly important in enabling affected municipalities to respond to infrastructure damage arising from declared disasters, and that effective implementation of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant remains central to municipal efforts to address infrastructure needs.
“The Provincial Treasury will continue working with National Treasury, CoGTA, disaster management structures and municipalities to strengthen financial management and support the effective implementation of municipal grants,” Kunene said.
Through these collaborative efforts, the department says it seeks to ensure municipalities are better positioned to manage public resources responsibly, and that infrastructure funding contributes to sustainable service delivery and improved conditions in communities.
The account above is drawn from the government’s own summary of the engagement, published by SAnews, rather than from the underlying applications or the circular itself. The summary does not state the value of the rollover requests, which municipalities submitted them, or when National Treasury will decide.
Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), North West strengthens municipal infrastructure grant management
