Pretoria – The City of Tshwane, which has been on a drive to cut off electricity supplies to non-payers, has announced that the Department of Public Works has paid R91 million for municipal accounts in arrears.
The announcement on Monday, 26 January 2026, came amid a public row between the City of Tshwane and the Department of Correctional Services following attempts to cut off power to Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre.
The City had given the department a deadline of Monday to settle arrears or have services suspended.
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In a statement made available to The Bulrushes, the City said it “welcomes confirmation it received this morning that the National Department of Public Works has processed payments totalling R91 million in respect of municipal accounts in arrears”.
The City said the payments relate to a range of government properties, including some sites visited by city officials in recent weeks as part of credit control and verification processes under the “Tshwane Ya Tima” initiative.
The City said it appreciates the engagement with the Department of Public Works to address these matters and views this as a constructive step towards resolving long-outstanding municipal accounts and strengthening intergovernmental cooperation.
The City revealed that it was owed more than R1.9 billion by various national and provincial departments.
“This places significant financial strain on the municipality and directly affects its ability to sustain service delivery,” the statement said.
“For this reason, the city applies its credit control and debt-management processes consistently and with the same level of rigour across all account holders, including government institutions.”
