fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Joburg’s ‘unrealistic revenue targets’ led to R2bn unauthorised expenditure, Auditor-General finds

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 729 words · By Naledi Mashishi
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Ready to play
Daily briefing

What to know about Joburg’s ‘unrealistic revenue targets’ led to R2bn unauthorised expenditure, Auditor-General finds

The latest report from the Auditor-General on the City of Johannesburg’s consolidated financial statements shows that poor management, weak accountability mechanisms, and deteriorating infrastructure have led to high levels of irregular expenditure.

Claims checked 16
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

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

What happened

The latest report from the Auditor-General on the City of Johannesburg’s consolidated financial statements shows that poor management, weak accountability mechanisms, and deteriorating infrastructure have led to high levels of irregular expenditure.

Why it matters

In the 2024/25 financial year, Joburg achieved an unqualified audit with findings for the 11th year in a row and recorded R3.69-billion in irregular expenditure, R2.38-billion in unauthorised expenditure, and R943-million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Common ground

These results were presented in a parliamentary briefing by the Auditor-General of South Africa on Tuesday, 2 June 2026.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-06-02-joburgs-unrealistic-revenue-t…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 16 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 6
check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule
Claim 1: “The City’s Eskom debt has since risen to more than R5-billion”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 2: “Key basic infrastructure entities like City Power, Johannesburg Water, Pikitup and Johannesburg Road Agency have been in the amber for more than 10 years”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While there are mentions of City Power and Johannesburg Water being 'destroyed' or having 'financial mismanagement', there is no specific evidence in the provided text confirming they have been in the 'amber' category for 'more than 10 years'.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Johannesburg_Metropoli…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 20, 2026 · City Power and Johannesburg Water has been destroyed by an inept executive in the CoJ. There is no other way to put it.
https://www.facebook.com/DAJoburg/posts/the-mayor-seems-to-b…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Oct 28, 2020 · The AGSA (Auditor General South Africa) audit for the 2023/2024 financial year exposes deep financial mismanagement at the City of Johannesburg ...
https://www.facebook.com/CllrSarahWissler/posts/from-cllr-ti…
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 3: “the Auditor-General’s office noted more than 20 material irregularities in other municipal entities”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 4: “the City’s latest budget, tabled on Wednesday, 27 May, is also unfunded”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 5: “at least two, one from waste collection agency Pikitup and the other from Johannesburg Water, resulted in “substantial harm to the general public””
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 6: “Water losses... sat at 45%, equating to R2.8-billion, while electricity losses were at 27%, equating to R5.7-billion”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 7: “Johannesburg’s 2024/25 budget being unfunded... leading to unauthorised expenditure of R2.38-billion”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results (dated June 2, 2026, and June 16, 2026) explicitly link Joburg's unfunded budgets to unauthorised expenditure of approximately R2 billion (specifically R2.1 billion in one source, R2bn in another).
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · Unauthorized expenditure rose 38% to R2.1 billion, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure surged more than 200% to R2.5 billion.
https://www.facebook.com/eNCAnews/posts/r40-billion-is-alrea…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 16, 2026 · Unauthorized expenditure rose 38% to R2.1 billion, while fruitless and wasteful expenditure surged more than 200% to R2.5 billion.
https://www.facebook.com/dean.lavagnaslater/posts/r4516-bill…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Feb 26, 2026 · The Adjustment Budget for 2025/26 retains the City of Tshwane's fully funded budget status. In addition, our capital budget has increased from ...
https://www.facebook.com/DrNasiphiMoya/posts/the-adjustment-…
check_circle
Claim 8: “capital expenditure being just 9% of the budget – below norms of 10-20%”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources confirm this: one web search result from June 2, 2026, explicitly states capital expenditure was 'just 9% of the budget – below norms of 10-20%', and a Mayoral Committee document from May 29, 2025, notes capital investment at 8.3% is below the 10-20% norm.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 2, 2026 ... Other issues flagged included capital expenditure being just 9% of the budget – below norms of 10-20%, meaning the City lacked sufficient funds ...
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-06-02-joburgs-u…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2025 ... It was agreed that the level of capital investment of 8,3% is below the acceptable norm of between 10-20%. As a result, the city has been.
https://joburg.org.za/documents_/Documents/ITEM_03C.pdf
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A visualisation of the budget preparation result is shown in Figure 88 below. ... Some capital expenditure projects have a city-wide beneficiary area and ...
https://iudf.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sol20Plaatje.p…
info
Claim 9: “The City, on its own, received a qualified audit, but was categorised as unqualified with findings when its various entities were considered”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence discusses the City of Cape Town's audit status (unqualified with findings), but does not provide the specific breakdown for the City of Johannesburg regarding its independent qualified status versus its consolidated unqualified status.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · The city still received an unqualified audit opinion, meaning its financial statements were accepted, but auditors found compliance issues that ...
https://www.facebook.com/newsroomza/posts/the-city-of-cape-t…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Rating 5.0(1)In 2023-24, the most common outcome was an unqualified audit opinion with findings – which 99 municipalities (39%) received. This is not an outcome to ...
https://www.scribd.com/document/868439437/MFMA-Report-2023-2…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · The city received an unqualified audit opinion with findings, meaning its financial statements and performance reports were accepted, but ...
https://www.facebook.com/newsroomza/posts/cape-town-has-lost…
info
Claim 10: “In the 2024/25 financial year, Joburg achieved an unqualified audit with findings for the 11th year in a row”
SINGLE SOURCE
One web search result from a COJ Council document (dated March 24, 2025) confirms the City achieved an unqualified audit outcome with findings, similar to 2022/23. However, the specific claim that this is the '11th year in a row' is not corroborated by other independent sources in the provided evidence.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Johannesburg ( joh-HAN-iss-burg, US also -⁠HAHN-, Afrikaans: [jʊəˈɦanəsbœrχ] ; Xhosa: eGoli [ɛˈɡɔːli]; Zulu: iGoli [îˈɡóːli]), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg or "the City of Gold", is the most po…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Johannesburg City Hall is an Edwardian building constructed in 1914 by the Hawkey and McKinley construction company. The plan for the building was drawn in 1910 and construction was started in 1913 an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg_City_Hall
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Johannesburg_Metropoli…
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 11: “Mayor Dada Morero acknowledged an infrastructure backlog of more than R220-billion”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Mayor Dada Morero's statement on the infrastructure backlog.
help
Claim 12: “The amount of money budgeted for maintenance was just 4%, well below the norm of 8%”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the maintenance budget percentage.
check_circle
Claim 13: “These results were presented in a parliamentary briefing by the Auditor-General of South Africa on Tuesday, 2 June 2026”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm a parliamentary briefing by the AGSA regarding municipal audit outcomes around the specified dates. One source explicitly mentions the AGSA briefing SCOPA on 2024/25 outcomes, and another mentions the AG urging action on June 4, 2026, following these outcomes.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pennsylvania Auditor General election of 2020 took place on November 3, 2020. Primary elections were originally due to take place on April 28, 2020. However, following concerns regarding the coron…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Pennsylvania_Auditor_Gene…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — An auditor general (also called comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general in some jurisdictions) is an independent public official responsible for auditing government finances and operati…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditor_general
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kagiso Lerutla is a South African executive and group chief financial officer of the City of Ekurhuleni and TED (conference) speaker. Kagiso Lerutla was born in South Africa. He attained a Bachelor of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagiso_Lerutla
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 14: “nearly 80% of the City’s municipal entities were in the amber, and had been for several years”
SINGLE SOURCE
Web search results from June 2, 2026, mention the Auditor-General raising 'alarming concerns' regarding governance and infrastructure for the City of Joburg, but the specific '80% of municipal entities in amber' statistic is not explicitly detailed in the snippets provided, though it aligns with the general reporting of the AG's warnings.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is an intergovernmental organization whose members are supreme audit institutions. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_of_…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. When compared to other countries, South Africa h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_South_Africa
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a British multinational professional services network based in London, England. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four professional serv…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_&_Young
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 15: “recorded R3.69-billion in irregular expenditure, R2.38-billion in unauthorised expenditure, and R943-million in fruitless and wasteful expenditure”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence mentions various figures for irregular and unauthorised expenditure (e.g., R2.1 billion, R4.2 billion for Gauteng Provincial Government), but none of the sources specifically confirm the exact figures of R3.69-billion, R2.38-billion, and R943-million for the City of Johannesburg in 2024/25.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. When compared to other countries, South Africa h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_South_Africa
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Emfuleni Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Emfuleni; Zulu: UMasipala wase Mfuleni; Afrikaans: Emfuleni Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Sedibeng District Municipality, in the Gauteng …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emfuleni_Local_Municipality
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following table is an overview of national records in the 10,000 metres.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_records_in_the_10,000…
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 16: “In 2024/25, debts to bulk service suppliers such as Eskom and water boards sat at R3.1-billion”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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.