MPUMALANGA’S capital, Nelspruit, has frozen all new development projects until rates defaulters pay it the R41-million owned for basic services such as water and electricity. Nelspruit city treasurer Nantes Kruger said the council will also cut electricity to anyone owing it money before Christmas and will hand over all outstanding accounts to attorneys for prosecution. The radical measures follow warnings by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) that Nelspruit would not qualify for new loans or even service its existing loans unless it tightened up debt collection. The warning echoes similar concerns by the provincial local government department, which announced last month that only four of the province’s 83 municipalities are functioning properly. Twelve of the municipalities are already bankrupt and cannot provide even basic services.