We live in interesting (financial) times in South Africa and there is a frequent complaint heard that citizens’ tax money “does nothing”, a broad and sweeping statement that removes the onus of any individual actually finding out where the money is going. In an answer to that, there is a resource available called Municipal Money which aims to break down the expenditure of money granted to municipalities. Taken from the descriptor on the website:

“Municipal Money is an initiative of the National Treasury, which hosts extensive amounts of municipal financial data, submitted by municipalities. In order to share this data with the public, National Treasury has enlisted the help of an external partner, Code for South Africa – an NGO that promotes informed public decision-making using technology.

Municipal Money is a free, impartial, politically neutral, online tool to find out about how municipal funds are spent. Our aim is to help citizens understand where public money is spent and whether this is within acceptable norms, not to comment on how it is spent. In doing so we hope to empower our citizens, strengthen civic oversight and promote accountability. We hope that Municipal Money will be a useful tool for everyone, regardless of their political persuasion and their views on public spending.”

So why not take a look the next time you are wondering how your tax money is spent?