This article acknowledges the lack of skills and poor financial governance within South African municipalities but argues that these factors are an insufficient explanation of their increasing fiscal distress, which was found at over 90% by 2016. It employs the concept of financial condition to construct an econometric function for South African local government. This financial condition function confirms that the fiscal framework of South African local government is distressed. The article further concludes that as service delivery improves, so does the fiscal distress. This applies even to municipalities that receive audit outcomes without material findings. As an illustration, the article uses the collective debt incurred by municipalities to Eskom – the energy utility company. The article argues that it is mathematically impossible to settle this debt within the current local government fiscal framework. The conclusion confirms the importance of constructing the financial condition function as an enabler for improved local government financial health.

中文翻译：

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了解财务可持续性对南非市政当局的影响

本文承认南非市政当局缺乏技能和不良的财务治理，但认为这些因素不足以解释其不断增加的财政困境，到2016年，这一比率已超过90％。它采用了财政状况的概念南非地方政府的计量功能。该财务状况功能证实了南非地方政府的财政框架令人沮丧。文章进一步得出结论，随着服务提供的改善，财政困境也随之改善。这甚至适用于没有实质性发现而获得审计结果的市政当局。作为说明，本文使用了市政当局向能源公用事业公司Eskom承担的集体债务。文章认为，在数学上不可能在当前的地方政府财政框架内偿还这笔债务。结论证实了构建财务状况功能作为改善地方政府财务健康状况的推动力的重要性。