Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya has hit back at allegations that her administration squandered R777 million on water tanker operations in the first nine months of her term, calling the claim “incorrect”. 

Addressing a media briefing at Tshwane House on Thursday, Moya explained that the figure reported in a media report is based on a system extract showing total purchase orders, including R156 million in cancelled, duplicated, or unprocessed transactions.

Moya clarified that the R777m figure represents procurement activity, not actual expenditure, citing that a verified financial report tells a different story. 

She explained that in the 2023/24 financial year, the city ring-fenced the tanker function and recorded R322m in expenditure, including R179m in unpaid invoices that were settled in 2025.

 As a result of unpaid R179m, she said contractors descended on Tshwane House on July 24, 2024, demanding payment for outstanding invoices.

“The R140m quoted in the media excludes these unpaid bills and, therefore, understates the true cost incurred under the previous administration. When these invoices were eventually settled, they were carried over to the new administration’s book, creating a false impression of the sharp rise in spending.” 

According to her, in the 2024/25 financial year, the city actually paid R621m, as per verified records from the city’s finance department, which includes R179m in accruals from the 2023/24 financial year.

“Once these are excluded, the actual expenditure amounts to R441m, which represents a 36% increase from the previous year, corresponding directly with a 50% increase in water outages during the same period.” 

Moya highlighted that R98m of the R441m was spent in the first quarter, accounting for 22% of the total.

“So, the story that this administration, in a space of nine months, spent R777m is not correct,” she said.

She emphasised that the first budget for 2024/25 was initiated before her administration took office in October last year.

She also noted that expenditure incurred between July and mid-October 2024 falls under the previous administration, even if the payments were processed later.

Municipal Manager Johann Mettler corroborated Moya’s claims, stating that the number of reported water outages surged from 7,288 in 2022/23 to 23,746 in 2024/25, resulting in increased tanker costs. 

This rise in water outages, he said, directly corresponds to the growth in tanker expenditure, with verified spending jumping from R322.95m in 2023/24 to R441.10m in 2024/25.

He attributed the water outages to several factors, including Rand Water bulk supply disruptions, contamination of the Apies River in the Hammanskraal area, an ageing distribution network, and key reservoir area failures due to power disruptions and vandalism.

“We have to reduce our reliance on water tankers (and) that we acknowledge and our key measures include the borehole development programme, and the Human Settlements Department has allocated an amount of R10m to develop boreholes in informal and per-urban areas,” Mettler said.

However, DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink disputed Moya’s explanation, claiming that the city only has purchase orders for R381m of the R777m spent on water tankers in the 2024/25 financial year. 

Brink accused Moya’s administration of potentially paying unverified invoices, raising the possibility of large-scale fraud.

In response, ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont dismissed the DA’s claims as a “political lie”, accusing the DA of secretly working with municipal officials to manipulate figures.

Brink had claimed that the DA obtained information from a municipal source showing that the city has purchase orders for only R381m of the R777m spent on water tankers in the 2024/25 financial year.

Beaumont also accused Brink of leaving R179m in unpaid tanker invoices for the new administration to settle.

“When those unpaid bills were finally settled in 2025, they appeared in the new books, creating a false impression of a spike in spending,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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