{"id":90895,"date":"2025-11-28T15:07:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T15:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=90895"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:48:15","slug":"this-week-in-charts-135-remittances-slow-payment-from-municipalities-limpopo-stadiums-in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2025\/11\/28\/this-week-in-charts-135-remittances-slow-payment-from-municipalities-limpopo-stadiums-in-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Outlier #136: Remittances, slow payment from municipalities, Limpopo stadiums in limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\ud83d\udcb8 Outflows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Last year people living in South Africa sent R19.4-billion in formal, digital remittances to 15 southern African countries. It is up from R5.9-billion in 2016. Gauteng was the largest source of these remittances, accounting for 45% of the total, followed by the Western Cape at 18%. Almost two-thirds of remittances to Angola and 47% of remittances to Zimbabwe came from Gauteng. Zimbabwe remains the largest recipient of remittances from South Africa, receiving R11.8-billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For other countries, different provinces dominate as origin points. The Western Cape is the leading source of remittances to the DRC, Namibia and Tanzania, while KwaZulu-Natal sends the most to Comoros. These flows underline South Africa\u2019s continuing role as a financial lifeline for households across the southern African region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Overdue chaos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Good cash flow is a critical element for any business. Invoices being paid within 30 days is largely common practice. But the reality is often very different when dealing with municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theory at least when a service provider invoices a municipality they should be paid within 30 days. In practice, that rarely happens, even in South Africa\u2019s eight metro municipalities. In fact none of them pay invoices within 30 days on average, according to data from the Auditor General of South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape Town and eThekwini are relatively good performers while the City of Johannesburg and Mangaung take well over 300 days on average to settle invoices. That\u2019s around a 10 month wait service providers have to put up with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n