Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana released July's municipal equitable share payments despite non-compliance, citing service delivery concerns. However, he warned that December payments would be withheld if municipal financial management did not improve, maintaining pressure on local governments to meet Treasury demands.

Friday is payday for municipalities that have yet to receive their equitable share, after the Treasury decided to release the funds.

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana announced on Tuesday that the reason for releasing the equitable share was concern over the impact on service delivery of a sustained withholding of the money.

The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) welcomed the decision, saying that thousands of its members had not been paid due to a lack of municipal funds because of the withheld equitable share.

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Samwu spokesperson Dumisane Magagula said the National Treasury should therefore not "expect applause for extinguishing a fire that should never have been started in the first place".

"The release of the equitable share is welcomed because it will bring desperately needed relief to municipalities and workers, but it cannot erase the hardship unnecessarily inflicted on thousands of municipal workers and their families," Magagula added.

Two metros still non-compliant

Two of the country's metros, Nelson Mandela Bay and Mangaung, were singled out as municipalities that had still not complied with Treasury's demands. The City of Johannesburg, the Treasury indicated, had already received a part of its equitable share to pay Eskom and Rand Water, but would...