Political parties held differing opinions on the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) 2024/25 financial year audit outcomes for eThekwini Municipality, for the year ended June 30, 2025.

The report revealed that the municipality had received an unqualified audit opinion when it was tabled by the AGSA at a council meeting on Thursday.

In a statement, the municipality said the report reflected progress in strengthening financial management, performance reporting, and overall governance.

Key highlights from the audit report include:

• Unqualified audit opinion with no material findings on the financial statements.
• Improved quality of performance reporting, with stronger alignment between reported results and supporting evidence.
• Resolution of prior year non-compliance relating to strategic planning and performance management.

“Although the Auditor-General highlighted ongoing pressures — including debt collection challenges and creditor payment timelines — the municipality has prioritised measures to strengthen cash flow, improve collection rates, enhance revenue management, and shorten payment cycles,” said the statement.

Councillor Zwakele Mncwango, ActionSA KZN provincial chairperson, was concerned about the recurring issues relating to irregular expenditure, weak procurement controls, poor consequence management, unreliable performance reporting, and the slow pace of resolving material irregularities.

“These findings demonstrate systemic weaknesses in oversight and internal controls, which ultimately undermine service delivery and public confidence in the municipality.”

Mncwango said that municipal weaknesses highlighted by the AGSA illustrate that residents are bearing the cost of poor planning, inadequate maintenance, and fragmented leadership. 

“Officials who repeatedly fail to implement corrective measures should be held accountable, and investigations into irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure must be concluded without delay.”

Saul Basckin – ActionSA, eThekwini councillor, said the report confirms that money is being recorded correctly, but spent poorly in uncompetitive procurement processes, prohibited awards, and abuse of deviations continue unchecked. 

“Irregular expenditure increased dramatically in the past financial year, with billions still unresolved and little evidence of recovery or discipline.”

Basckin said the AGSA found that consequence management remains ineffective. Irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure is repeatedly identified, yet investigations are delayed, disciplinary action is rare, and officials are seldom held financially or personally accountable.

He added that as long as there are no consequences, the same failures will be repeated annually.

He believed that the impact of these failures is visible across eThekwini. These include: 

• Aging and poorly maintained infrastructure. 
• Water losses and sewer overflows. 
• Pollution of rivers and coastal environments. 
• Delayed housing and road projects. 
• Residents paying more for less reliable services. 

While the improved audit outcome is encouraging, the municipality said it recognises that some challenges remain.

It added that it was committed to accelerating corrective actions through strengthened oversight, enhanced consequence management, and targeted reforms in infrastructure delivery, project execution, and information technology.

Regarding financial health and stability, the municipality stated that the AGSA report had found that eThekwini recorded a surplus for the 2024/25 financial year, confirming that revenue exceeded expenditure, signalling a more stable financial position.

eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba said that improvements demonstrate a simple but important lesson: when leadership focuses on implementation, oversight, and accountability, progress is possible. He said that the report is equally clear that serious challenges remain.

Xaba said the municipality intends to:

• Strengthen oversight to ensure that audit action plans are implemented on time, with clear lines of accountability. 
• Accelerating consequence management. 
• Stabilising and modernising the ICT environment. 
• Tightening procurement and contract management controls. 
• Improving infrastructure planning, project management, and maintenance, with stronger oversight and better alignment to budgets. 
• Strengthening financial sustainability by improving revenue collection, paying creditors within legislated timeframes, and reducing water and electricity losses. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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