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Municipalities return R1bn in unspent water grants over five years

Dailydispatch · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 449 words · By Ernest Mabuza
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Daily briefing

What to know about Municipalities return R1bn in unspent water grants over five years

Even amid the persistent water crisis in some parts of the country, South African municipalities returned R1bn in unused Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grants (RBIG) to the National Treasury over the last five years.

Claims checked 10
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Even amid the persistent water crisis in some parts of the country, South African municipalities returned R1bn in unused Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grants (RBIG) to the National Treasury over the last five years.

Why it matters

The minister of finance Enoch Godongwana gave this figure in response to a parliamentary question by ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe.

Common ground

Kobe wanted to find out what was the total amount of the grant funding that was returned to the National Revenue Fund by all municipalities in each financial year in the past five financial years.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailydispatch.co.za/politics/2026-05-05-municipalities-return-r1bn-i…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
cancel Disputed 1
verified Verified 1
verified
Claim 1: “In his reply on April 30, Godongwana provided the figures which showed that municipalities in North West returned R309m of the R1bn in the past five years.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided discusses general budget speeches and funding adjustments for 2025/26, but does not mention the specific figure of R309m returned by North West municipalities on April 30.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tito Titus Mboweni (16 March 1959 – 12 October 2024) was a South African politician who served as Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa from 2018 to 2021.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tito_Mboweni
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cala is a town in Sakhisizwe Local Municipality, part of the Chris Hani District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The town is located on the Tsomo River, 28 km southwest of E…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cala,_South_Africa
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mark John Burke is a South African politician who has been a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2024, representing the Democratic Alliance (DA), of which he serves the Federal Finan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_John_Burke
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 2: “Godongwana said the Treasury has issued a guiding circular in terms of section 32 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) pertaining to unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure and how to deal with consequence management in local government.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results returned information about National Car Rental and National Geographic, which are completely irrelevant to the MFMA or National Treasury circulars.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Explore National Geographic. A world leader in geography, cartography and exploration.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — National Car Rental is a private American rental car agency based in Clayton, Missouri, United States. National is owned by Enterprise Holdings, along with other agencies including Enterprise Rent-A-C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Car_Rental
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 1500+ Worldwide National Car Rental Locations National Car Rental has worldwide locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Australia.
https://www.nationalcar.com/en/home.html
cancel
Claim 3: “The minister of finance Enoch Godongwana gave this figure in response to a parliamentary question by ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe.”
DISPUTED
One web search result mentions Minister Enoch Godongwana provided figures in a parliamentary response, but it attributes the question to ActionSA MP Alan Beesley, whereas the claim attributes it to Malebo Kobe.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu (born 10 May 1954) is a South African politician. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa between April 1994 and March 2023.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindiwe_Sisulu
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web search NEUTRAL — The figures were provided by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in a recent parliamentary response to a question from ActionSA MP Alan Beesley.
https://businesstech.co.za/news/5-things/842674/another-r1-0…
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web search NEUTRAL — Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is now a respondent in a legal claim by the Surtie family, seeking R1.35 trillion from the Public Investment Corporation, linked to offshore inher…
https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-05-01-surtie-fa…
+ 1 more evidence source
help
Claim 4: “Godongwana said within the Division of Revenue Act prescript, the Treasury implements various mechanisms to prevent the continued surrender of infrastructure grant funding intended for service delivery. This includes withholding, stopping, reallocation and conversion.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute this claim.
help
Claim 5: “He said the responsibility for consequence management lay with the municipality to initiate and institute processes as prescribed by section 32 of the MFMA.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute this claim.
verified
Claim 6: “The RBIG is a conditional capital grant to municipalities meant to develop new, refurbish, upgrade and replace ageing bulk water and sanitation infrastructure of regional significance, the water and sanitation department said.”
VERIFIED
Web search results from the Department of Water and Sanitation confirm that the RBIG is used for refurbishments, upgrades, and new infrastructure projects for bulk water and sanitation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and imp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Regional_Commissio…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iron Road Ltd is an Australian iron ore exploration and mining company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: IRD) in Perth, Western Australia since 2008 with an objective to develop a wo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Road_Limited
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Tulsa Ports consist of the ports of Catoosa and Inola near Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, on the Verdigris River, a tributary of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. The ports are at and near the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Ports
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 7: “South African municipalities returned R1bn in unused Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grants (RBIG) to the National Treasury over the last five years.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant Irish dictionary entries and unrelated Wikipedia pages about South African unrest and military equipment. No evidence regarding the R1bn RBIG return was found.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_South_African_unrest
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of equipment of the South African Army, covering only ground forces. It includes current equipment such as personnel equipment, small arms, armoured combat vehicles, artillery, explosiv…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_South…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) was an auxiliary arm of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and comprised the armed forces of South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1977 to 1989. It e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_Africa_Territorial_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 8: “Gauteng municipalities used up all of their allocated funding.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence mentions that Gauteng municipalities need R5bn to fix infrastructure, but does not confirm that they used up all of their allocated RBIG funding.
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web search NEUTRAL — Gauteng Municipalities, Metros.
https://municipalities.co.za/provinces/view/3/gauteng
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web search NEUTRAL — These funds are being re- allocated to municipalities that have fast tracked the implementation of their projects and have accelerated expenditure against their original allocations.
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202002/…
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web search NEUTRAL — Share this: Four municipalities in Gauteng will need to spend close to R5 billion over the next three to five years to fix their bulk infrastructure.
https://www.jacarandafm.com/news/news/maile-r5bn-needed-fix-…
info
Claim 9: “Other provinces whose municipalities returned large amounts of the grant were the Eastern Cape (R261m) and Free State (R234m).”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided consists of a general list of municipalities and unrelated real estate/misconduct news. No data on RBIG returns for Eastern Cape or Free State was found.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The municipalities of South Africa as of 2016.Since the boundary reform at the time of the municipal election of 3 August 2016 there are 8 metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Sout…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In the market’s high-end or R20-million-plus bracket, Pam Golding Properties has concluded some notable sales on the Atlantic Seaboard. The sales include a house in Clifton which sold to a Gauteng-bas…
https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/788385/six-homes-in…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Allegations of financial misconduct have surfaced within the Matatiele Local Municipality, where Acting Municipal Manager Nokhanyo Zembe and several councillors stand accused of improperly claiming tr…
https://theinformer.africa/matatiele-municipality-officials-…
info
Claim 10: “These figures showed that R248m was returned in the 2021/22 financial year.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While evidence mentions RBIG funds being withheld in North West and general under-spending, there is no specific confirmation of the R248m figure for the 2021/22 financial year.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Democratic Alliance in North West said it has noted the National Treasury’s decision to withhold conditional grant funding from nine municipalities in the province.The Big DayFebruary 22, 2019. Th…
https://taungdailynews.com/2023/04/05/north-west-municipalit…
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web search NEUTRAL — 16% access road built, as part of the Mzimvubu Water Project (MWP); Eight municipalities in the country had their Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) withheld due to under-spending in the previo…
https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/33900/
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web search NEUTRAL — R134.2 million of RBIG will be converted from Schedule 6, Part B (indirect) to Schedule 5, Part B (direct) for George local municipality as per section 20 of DoRAA. This gazette is also available free…
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202303/…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.