Collection of own revenue in municipalities is a legislative requirement. The White Paper on Local Government (1998) emphatically states that municipalities need to have access to adequate sources of revenue in order to enable them to undertake the functional responsibilities assigned to them. In terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, the municipal manager, as the accounting officer of the municipality, is mandated with the responsibility to manage the revenue of the municipality. In executing this function the accounting officer is among other things expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the municipality has an effective revenue collection system. Collection of own revenue is a critical determinant of the financial viability of municipalities. That is, the abilities of municipalities to collect revenue from own sources is, often times than not, highlighted as an important determinant of the fin