“Water losses stood at R1.26bn and electricity at R3.06bn; material losses include R2.7bn in impaired traffic fines.”

“Ramantsi revealed that IT controls have regressed, showing cybersecurity vulnerabilities.”

“He said the primary issues were a lack of ICT skills, siloed operations and weak consequence management.”

“The office is co-ordinating an evaluation of the findings from various commissions, including the Madlanga commission.”

“Meanwhile, AGSA senior manager Xolani Zicwele revealed that the City of Tshwane is continuing to struggle with producing credible financial statements without relying on the audit process, and there has been little progress in reducing unauthorised and irregular expenditure.”

“Zicwele said it was found that unauthorised expenditure increased to R3.4bn, up from R2.1bn the previous year, while irregular expenditure rose from R16.9bn to R18bn.”

“On the other hand, the city is saddled with R20.9bn in consumer debt impairment and R1.4bn in other receivable impairments as well as the city’s R3.2bn electricity loss and R1.7bn water loss.”

“Zicwele added that the city still relies too heavily on the audit process to fix errors.”

““We continue to observe reliance on the audit process itself to correct material misstatements, which is not sustainable.”

““In procurement, we found material breakdowns in tax compliance, non-adherence to preferential procurement regulations, and, to a lesser extent, uncompetitive and unfair procurement practices, including awards made to state employees where it is prohibited.””

“He said Eskom and water board debt arrears in Tshwane stand at R5.6bn, while findings also revealed illegal procurement deviations and suspected fraud, including collusion and document misrepresentation, across multiple contracts.”