Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

Treasury proposes changes to PFMA and MFMA for public comment

Published

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented the proposals in parliament on Wednesday when he tabled the medium-term budget policy statement. Treasury says the changes aim to improve accountability, strengthen enforcement and support municipalities in financial distress.

Godongwana said the amendments to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) will strengthen Treasury's ability to act against financial misconduct and persistent non-compliance. He said they will also protect accounting officers who make lawful decisions in good faith. Treasury said the bill for municipalities will require them to show that their budgets are genuinely funded.

Reports said Treasury will also take over the appointment of municipal chief financial officers. Godongwana and Treasury said political office bearers and board directors will be held personally liable for unauthorised and wasteful expenditure.

Treasury said earlier this year it withheld equitable share transfers from 69 municipalities over non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act. It later released funds to 49 of them despite continued non-compliance. By the end of July, 38 municipalities had concluded repayment plans and R4.2 billion had been paid towards creditor debt.

Treasury said municipalities reported that public bodies owed local government R27.6 billion at 31 December 2025. More than half was owed by provincial departments.

Godongwana said: "South Africa needs accountable, well-managed cities and towns that provide reliable services."

Key facts

Who
Enoch Godongwana (Finance Minister); National Treasury (government department announcing the reforms)
What
As part of reforms in the medium-term budget policy statement tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, Treasury will modernise the Public Finance Management Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act to tackle financial misconduct and weak municipal financial management. The article also reports Treasury's view that SOEs such as Eskom, Transnet, Denel and SAA remain exposed to fiscal risk.
When
21 October 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update