Criticism comes after the Auditor-General's report on the state of the City of Tshwane's finances.
It was all eyes on Tshwane on Thursday after the Auditor-General (AG)’s report on the state of the City of Tshwane’s finances.
While Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya hasn’t yet responded, the opposition has criticised her administration following the tabling of the report.
City of Tshwane ‘has gone backwards’
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said the state of Tshwane’s finances is far from stable.
“The Auditor-General’s report on the performance of the Tshwane Metro for the 2024/25 financial year confirms that the city has gone backwards under the ANC-led coalition of Mayor Moya. The city’s key financial indicators show a sharp decline – from cash coverage, to trade payables and revenue collection. It is not clear that the mayor has any plan to get the city’s financial recovery back on track,” he said.
Brink said, according to the report, unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure has increased by R5 billion to R23 billion in total, while the city has failed to act on the findings of completed investigative reports.
Brink added that the revenue collection has dropped from 93% to 85%, which explains the City of Tshwane’s eagerness to cut services to national and provincial government departments, which it claims are not paying their bills.
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Brink added that the AG also raised concern over the salary increases awarded to staff, a decision which the city failed to take on review to the Labour Court despite clearly not being able to afford the R1.5 billion backdated portion of the increase.
“Tshwane’s government is on a downward spiral – neither social media videos nor posturing will turn it around,” he said.
‘City’s financial discipline and transparency undermined’
FF Plus Tshwane caucus leader Grandi Theunissen said his party is concerned following the AG’s 2024/25 audit report on the City of Tshwane.
“The report confirms that the city’s financial management has deteriorated sharply, with incorrect valuation of assets, which inflated financial statements, underestimation of contingent liabilities by more than R4.3 billion and collapse of results management, which leaves irregularities unpunished,” he said.
“The chairperson of the audit and risk committee further highlighted in his report that there is mainly poor procurement management and no proper control systems in place. These serious shortcomings mean that the city’s financial discipline and transparency are completely undermined, and that the risk of corruption and misappropriation is even greater,” he added.
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Theunissen said the progress achieved under the previous multi-party government has been wiped out in just nine months under the current coalition of ActionSA, ANC and the EFF.
“Another aspect of great concern is the coalition’s irresponsible decision to award a R2 billion salary increase and back pay in the 2025/26 financial year without first having the matter tested in the labour court, as the previous coalition did. This reckless step will place an unbearable burden on the city’s finances in the current financial year, and residents should be prepared that the next Auditor-General’s report will be even more devastating,” he added.
Tshwane mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said the mayor would respond to the findings soon.
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