How residents’ Ekurhuleni rates bills were cleared

Timeslive · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Jun 07, 2026 · 246 words · By Sipho Masondo; Sabelo Skiti; Thanduxolo Jika

Municipal Corruption Corporate Malfeasance Cybersecurity Failure

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What to know about Municipal Corruption

XET Solutions is accused of being central to a billing crisis in the Ekurhuleni municipality, which allegedly resulted in a revenue loss of over R2bn. The report claims the company struggled with IT implementation and that its systems were hacked by insiders to manipulate billing data and clear debts.

Propaganda risk 40%

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

XET Solutions, the company which raked in more than R400m in questionable payouts from Ekurhuleni municipality, is accused of being at the centre of a billing saga that saw residents’ rates bills cleared.

Why it matters

This led to Ekurhuleni losing revenue estimated at more than R2bn in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Common ground

The company was already on the metro’s professional services panel and was appointed on a three-year contract to provide enterprise resource planning (ERP) — an integrated IT system used to run and manage core business operations.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Smears: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Municipal Corruption story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that wiping out debts for rates and taxes altogether to fraudulently secure rates clearance certificates to fast-track the sale of properties?
How does this story connect Municipal Corruption with Corporate Malfeasance over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://timeslive.co.za/news/2026-06-07-how-residents-ekurhuleni-rates-bills-wer…

analyticsAnalysis

40%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 90%

Moderate concerns. Notable use of persuasive or loaded language.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Smears 80% confidence

Using damaging allegations to undermine a person's reputation.

Why it matters: Recognizing smears helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5

check_circle Corroborated 3

help Insufficient Evidence 1

help

Claim 1: “wiping out debts for rates and taxes altogether to fraudulently secure rates clearance certificates to fast-track the sale of properties.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this claim.

info

Claim 2: “The company was already on the metro’s professional services panel and was appointed on a three-year contract to provide enterprise resource planning (ERP)”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim appears in one web search result snippet ('How residents’ Ekurhuleni rates bills were cleared'), but other search results for 'Xet' refer to a different technology (Hugging Face Xet storage), providing no corroboration for the municipality contract.

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web search NEUTRAL — We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.
https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/xet/index

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web search NEUTRAL — We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.
https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/xet/using-xet-storage

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 🤗 xet-core - xet client tech, used in huggingface_hub Welcome xet-core enables huggingface_hub to utilize xet storage for uploading and downloading to HF Hub. Xet storage provides chunk-based deduplic…
https://github.com/huggingface/xet-core

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Claim 3: “This led to Ekurhuleni losing revenue estimated at more than R2bn in the 2023/2024 financial year.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm a revenue loss of approximately R2 billion. One source explicitly links it to the 2023/2024 financial year, and another specifies a R2 billion deficit between July and September 2024 due to billing systems and account manipulations.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Fidelity ADT is a South African private security company, that provides fixed neighborhood security monitoring services (by means of cameras and armed patrols); subscription-based, 24-hour residential…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelity_ADT

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Emmanuel “Lolly” Jackson (known as Lolly Jackson ; born Manoli Zachary ;c. 1956– 3 May 2010) was a South African businessman who founded the Teazers chain of strip clubs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolly_Jackson

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tembisa Hospital is a major public hospital located in the township of Tembisa, in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality of Gauteng, South Africa. The facility is managed by the Gauteng Department …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tembisa_Hospital

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “XET was tasked with setting up IT infrastructure capable of remote meter reading, meter data management and billing services for about 13,000 large power users (LPUs)”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are irrelevant (referring to remote jobs and general cloud infrastructure) and do not mention XET Solutions' specific contract for 13,000 LPUs.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Discover fully remote jobs worldwide for digital nomads and remote workers. Find full-time, part-time, and contract roles that let you work from anywhere.
https://www.workingnomads.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — The International Journal of Applied Management and Technology.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00…

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web search NEUTRAL — Build faster on intuitive cloud infrastructure for the modern web.Durable, long-running workflows as code. Deploy reliable agents and background processes at scale, without wiring up queues, workers, …
https://render.com/

info

Claim 5: “The attackers — working in collusion with insiders — manipulated electricity billing data, slashing to fractions the true amounts owed.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results provided are irrelevant, returning general Reddit landing pages and technical discussions on JSON/MySQL, with no mention of billing manipulation in Ekurhuleni.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 13, 2022 · You don’t format you bind your fields with variables. It looks like formatting though it’s slightly different syntax and you usually pass the actual data in an seperate argument. I’ll s…
https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/vbl84g/how_to_…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. Get a constantly updating feed of breaking news, fun stories, pics, memes, and videos just for you. Passionate about something niche? Reddit has…
https://www.reddit.com/r/all-do/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This is so weird, I downloaded GUI Bob and now I seem to have access to the entire Switch Library. How can it be this easy to get the content?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchPirates/comments/9e9fmu/good_…

info

Claim 6: “its IT billing systems were hacked.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results provided are irrelevant, referring to Hugging Face's xet-core and a turbine engine, not a hacking incident involving XET Solutions' billing systems.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 8, 2026 · 🤗 hf-xet - xet client tech, used in huggingface_hub Welcome hf-xet enables huggingface_hub to utilize xet storage for uploading and downloading to HF Hub. Xet storage provides chunk-base…
https://pypi.org/project/hf-xet/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — XET The XET is the flagship of the XE models. Powered by a modified T62-T2A Solar Turbine engine, the XET sounds awesome with the quintessential turbine whine, smells great with the consumption of Jet…
https://composite-fx.com/models/xet/

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Claim 7: “Ekurhuleni’s IT infrastructure, including its ERP, is hosted on a platform called Solar, developed by Business Connexion, a Telkom subsidiary.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is confirmed by both a cross-reference from Timeslive and a web search result, stating the ERP is hosted on the Solar platform developed by Business Connexion, a Telkom subsidiary.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — ... EKURHULENI BUILT ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE PLAN 2019-2020. 2. Climate Responsiveness and Resilience. The structure of the City of Ekurhuleni's economy is ...
https://www.ekurhuleni.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/A-F…

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 14, 2025 ... ... INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY ........................................................................ 152. 1.13 HOUSING .....................
https://economic.durban.gov.za/uploads/0000/6/2025/08/15/eth…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 20, 2025 ... We included icons for our four main business processes and operating activities, which are explained in our business model on page 20. Key ...
https://famousbrands.co.za/iar2025/pdfs/Famous_Brands_IR_202…

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 8: “in the first three months of the 2023/2024 financial year not a single LPU meter was read.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results provided for this claim are completely irrelevant, returning definitions of the word 'no' and a song by Meghan Trainor instead of municipal billing data.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A dance-pop song inspired by 1990s pop music and R&B, "No" has lyrics about sexual consent and empowerment, encouraging women to reject unwanted advances from men. Music critics praised "No" as a show…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_(Meghan_Trainor_song)

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — No is an English word that has a negative meaning. It is the opposite of the word yes, which is a positive term. No is used when someone is turning away something. It is also used when opposing an ide…
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 1. not any, not a, or not one: there's no money left; no card in the file. 2. not by a long way; not at all: she's no youngster. 3. (followed by comparative adjectives and adverbs) not: no fewer than …
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/no

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Claim 9: “XET Solutions, the company which raked in more than R400m in questionable payouts from Ekurhuleni municipality”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm that investigators are probing XET Solutions for allegedly receiving R483 million from the City of Ekurhuleni.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 7, 2026 ... A trove of financial records — including payment statistics reports and invoice registers — have laid bare how IT service provider Xet Solutions ...
https://www.facebook.com/TimesLIVE/posts/a-company-allegedly…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 10, 2026 ... Ekurhuleni officials face court after allegations of unauthorised salary increases totalling over R2.6 million come to light.
https://www.facebook.com/dailymaverick/posts/ekurhuleni-offi…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 7, 2026 ... Investigators are probing how IT company XET allegedly received R483 million from the City of Ekurhuleni through what officials describe as ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZR4RIxEif8/

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.