CoE strives to recover R2bn revenue shortfall amid billing system overhaul
CoE’s Executive Mayor says automated meter-reading accuracy had improved from 84% to 97% following the City’s efforts to restore functions and strengthen the integrity of its billing environment.
The City of Ekurhuleni is continuing efforts to recover a historic revenue shortfall of approximately R2b.
The city’s executive mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, said improvements to the municipality’s electricity meter-reading and billing systems are central to restoring its financial position and service delivery.
The mayor addressed the revenue shortfall issue on September 18 at Kempton Park during a media address.
Xhakaza said changes made to the city’s billing systems had affected institutional integrity, particularly within its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) environment, ultimately causing a regression in the audit.
He said the approximately R2b revenue shortfall had significant consequences for the municipality because accurate billing is closely linked to its ability to fund and maintain services.
“For a municipality, the integrity of a billing system has immediate consequences for service delivery because if you can’t read how much you consume today, it will have an impact on the speed within which you’re able to close a pothole,” Xhakaza said.
According to the mayor, the city’s public accounts processes identified an energy revenue shortfall of approximately R2b associated with failures in the meter-reading and billing environment after the function was transferred from one department to another.
The city has previously put the identified shortfall at approximately R2.1b. In September 2025, it reported that nearly R1.4b had been billed against historic accounts, while more than R365m had been collected.
Xhakaza emphasised that the figures should not be interpreted as meaning the entire shortfall had been recovered.
“The distinction that we have identified between money billed and money collected is essential because residents deserve a financial report that makes those differences very clear,” he said.
The mayor said the city had taken steps to restore functions and strengthen the integrity of its billing environment, including returning certain responsibilities to the Energy Department.
He said automated meter-reading accuracy had improved from 84% to 97%. Xhakaza said the city had also undertaken a back-billing programme to recover amounts that had not previously been billed, whether because of deliberate actions or an ineffective system.
“We’ve released some financial results to the Auditor-General of South Africa, and we’re hoping for an improved audit opinion free from this particular dismal performance. Because just a percentage where you don’t collect amounts to hundreds of millions,” the mayor said.
