Cape town: Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) has commended the eThekwini Municipality for its transparency and comprehensive reporting on governance, financial management, and service delivery challenges. The municipality, led by Mayor Cyril Xaba, appeared before the committee to address a wide range of operational and administrative matters affecting the city.
According to South African Government News Agency, SCOPA Chairperson Songezo Zibi expressed gratitude to Mayor Xaba and City Manager Musa Mbhele for their timely submission of information and for ensuring the attendance of all relevant officials at the meeting. Zibi emphasized that the engagement did not suggest any wrongdoing by the municipality but was part of SCOPA's ongoing efforts to engage with institutions playing a strategic role in the country's economic growth, including metropolitan municipalities.
Mayor Xaba welcomed the engagement, describing it as an essential mechanism for enhancing accountability and oversight within the municipality. He reaffirmed his commitment made to the Auditor-General last year to improve performance, transparency, accountability, and governance within the municipality.
To bolster accountability, the Mayor stated that monitoring of audit action plans has been elevated to both the Executive Committee and Portfolio Committees, with monthly progress reviews. Audit matters have also been given greater prominence in the performance agreements of the city manager and senior managers.
The municipality reported that these measures are already producing positive results, with a reduction in audit findings from 25 in the 2022/23 financial year to 13 in the 2024/25 financial year. The remaining findings mainly concern expenditure management, procurement, contract management, and consequence management.
To enhance compliance, the city is implementing an online invoice processing system to reduce payment turnaround times and allow service providers to track progress online. Additionally, a new tender management system is being finalized to identify government employees conducting business with the state and reduce conflicts of interest previously highlighted by the Auditor-General.
On financial performance, eThekwini maintained unqualified audit opinions over the past five years and remains financially stable. The city affirmed that its current budget is fully funded and aligned with developmental priorities, with National Treasury endorsing the credibility of the proposed 2026/27 budget. The municipality added that its collection rate is at 94%, aligning with National Treasury norms, and confirmed timely payments to bulk suppliers Eskom and uMngeni-uThukela Water.
The city also updated SCOPA on progress in addressing concerns related to the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Municipal officials reported that investigations by the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate have concluded, leading to disciplinary processes against implicated individuals. The legal department has initiated processes to recover funds linked to double-dipping allegations, with other matters referred to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation.
Addressing irregular expenditure, the municipality attributed much of the increase to non-compliance with Preferential Procurement Regulations concerning local content requirements. The city clarified that past contracts lacked local content specifications, but all new contracts now include minimum local content thresholds. Officials indicated that only 18 active contracts remain affected and are confident that irregular expenditure due to local content non-compliance will be resolved by the next financial year.
The municipality outlined measures to reduce non-revenue water (NRW), currently at 53%, by intensifying efforts to reduce water losses and improve supply reliability through its Water and Sanitation Turnaround Strategy. Xaba mentioned that the strategy is part of broader trading services reforms by National Treasury, focusing on operational efficiency and infrastructure management.
Key interventions include replacing old and faulty water meters, enhancing billing systems and customer data cleansing, optimizing water infrastructure maintenance, pressure management, leak detection, and accelerating pipe replacement projects. The municipality is also prioritizing rapid response to burst pipes and water leaks, with a 24-hour response expectation.
Among the flagship projects is the R1.2 billion Southern Aqueduct Project, aimed at stabilizing water supply in Durban central and southern areas by replacing a 70-year-old pipeline with a new steel pipe.