Money in · Gauteng
Where does the metro’s money come from?
60.7%
of what it billed residents and businesses was collected in 2024-25. Treasury’s norm is 95%.
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
Compare all eight metros: Money in. An asterisk marks a figure our automated checks found inconsistent with another official figure; it is shown as reported, explained in a footnote and left out of rankings.
Metros do not get income tax or VAT. Those go to national government.
A metro’s own money comes from property rates (a tax on property value) and from selling services: electricity, water, sanitation and refuse removal. On top of that, national government sends grants, mostly for building infrastructure and for free basic services to poor households.
So a metro’s finances depend heavily on one thing: collecting what it bills.
Official: National Treasury · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
Treasury norm: 95%
Share of the rates and service charges billed in the year that was actually collected.
Source: National Treasury, Municipal Money; calculated with the Circular 71 formula.
Official: National Treasury, Section 71 (unaudited) · Data as of 30 June 2026 (2025-26, 12 of 12 months, unaudited) · Next update expected November 2026 (Treasury’s next quarterly Section 71 release)
98%
of the revenue it budgeted for: Tshwane brought in R52.38bn of R53.66bn in the full year (preliminary) of 2025-26, as it reported to Treasury. Residents, businesses and government owed it R32.63bn at 30 June 2026.
Unaudited: what each metro reported to National Treasury for the full year (preliminary) of 2025-26, to 30 June 2026. The audited years stay the reference; these figures are not used in headlines. Source: Treasury’s summary of metros workbook (all files).
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (audited) · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
2024-25 R51.44bn · R12 811 per resident
Electricity sales 35% · Property rates 21% · Water sales 12%
2023-24 R45.86bn · R11 685 per resident
Electricity sales 34% · Property rates 22% · Water sales 13%
2022-23 R41.54bn · R10 824 per resident
Electricity sales 34% · Property rates 22% · Water sales 13%
2021-22
Not yet published (no audited figures in Treasury’s dataset).
2020-21
Not yet published (no audited figures in Treasury’s dataset).
Operating revenue, not counting grants for building infrastructure. Per resident uses Stats SA’s mid-year population estimates. Source: National Treasury, Municipal Money, income and expenditure (audited actuals).
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (unaudited monthly returns) · Data as of Mar 2026 (unaudited monthly returns) · Updates: Treasury adds months quarterly · Last updated
R32.43bn
owed to Tshwane by residents, businesses and government at the end of Mar 2026; 85% of it was more than 90 days old. The audited figure for June 2025 was R30.26bn.
Households R20.63bn · businesses R9.98bn · government R1.81bn · other R0. Source query · audited June 2025.
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (unaudited monthly returns) · Data as of Mar 2026 (unaudited monthly returns) · Updates: Treasury adds months quarterly
R5.11bn
owed by Tshwane to its suppliers at the end of Mar 2026; 39% of it was more than 90 days old.
Official: SARS and National Treasury · Data as of tax year 2024 (provisional) · Updates: SARS and Treasury publish once a year · Last updated
Metros do not receive income tax or VAT. Income tax goes to national government. Part of national revenue flows back to municipalities as grants: the equitable share and grants for set purposes. A metro’s own money comes from property rates and charges for electricity, water, sanitation and refuse.
The figures below put three things side by side for Tshwane. They cover different periods: a tax year runs from 1 March to the end of February; a municipal year runs from 1 July to 30 June. The periods overlap but are not the same.
Tshwane
750 274 assessed taxpayers · average taxable income R412 120
Income tax: tax year 2024 (1 Mar 2023 to 29 Feb 2024); provisional: The latest tax year in each edition is incomplete: it holds only the assessments finished when SARS extracted the data, and the next edition revises it upwards. We use each tax year from the newest edition that has it. Metro figures: municipal year 2023-24 (1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2024), audited. Own revenue is property rates plus charges for electricity, water, sanitation and refuse. Transfers received are operating and capital transfers from national and provincial government, as recognised in the audited statements. Per resident uses Stats SA’s mid-year population estimate for 2024.
| Tax year | Taxpayers | Taxable income | Tax assessed | Average taxable income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (provisional) | 750 274 | R309.20bn | R69.17bn | R412 120 |
| 2023 | 699 793 | R285.75bn | R64.73bn | R408 335 |
| 2022 | 637 625 | R254.15bn | R58.09bn | R398 584 |
| 2021 | 603 059 | R228.64bn | R51.81bn | R379 130 |
| 2020 | 558 484 | R226.06bn | R53.34bn | R404 769 |
| 2019 | 507 133 | R206.02bn | R48.22bn | R406 243 |
| 2018 | 511 900 | R197.13bn | R44.97bn | R385 099 |
| 2017 | 516 571 | R186.54bn | R41.33bn | R361 104 |
| 2016 | 503 568 | R174.24bn | R38.21bn | R346 005 |
Each tax year is from the newest edition that has it (link on the year). Tax year 2024 is 1 Mar 2023 to 29 Feb 2024, and so on.
| Municipal year | Own revenue | Transfers received |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | R38.46bn | R7.26bn |
| 2023-24 | R35.03bn | R6.44bn |
| 2022-23 | R31.91bn | R6.51bn |
| 2021-22 | Not yet published | Not yet published |
| 2020-21 | Not yet published | Not yet published |
Sources: SARS and National Treasury, Tax Statistics, Chapter 2 Personal Income Tax, tables A2.10.1 to A2.10.9 (assessed individual taxpayers, by the residential address declared on their tax returns); National Treasury, Municipal Money, income and expenditure (audited). Not published by ward.
