Parliament, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 – The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on Tuesday demanded a full account of investigations, recoveries, disciplinary action and criminal referrals linked to billions of rand in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure regularised or written off by the City of Johannesburg.
The committees received a briefing from the leadership of the metro on its audit outcomes for the 2024/25 financial year and steps being taken to address governance, financial management and service-delivery failures.
Members cautioned that reducing the accumulated UIFW expenditure balance through regularisation or write-offs could not, on its own, be presented as evidence of improved governance. The committees heard that the balance had declined from R23.614 billion in 2023/24 to R13.278 billion in 2024/25. However, they stressed that regularisation did not make unlawful expenditure lawful or remove the obligation to act against those responsible.
The committees questioned the metro about amounts written off, while 34 matters remained under investigation and historical cases were still before the disciplinary board. They stressed that accountability must be measured by completed investigations, sanctions against responsible officials, recovery of losses and referrals to law-enforcement agencies.
The Chairperson of SCOPA, Mr Songezo Zibi, said the engagement formed part of a continuing oversight of the metro. “Municipalities are critical levers in creating economic activity and employment, while also delivering services that were, for residents, essentially a human right. This will then not be the only interaction that we have with the metro,” he said. “We are going to travel this journey together until 2029.”
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize, also reminded the joint meeting that the purpose was not to debate the metro’s public image, but to establish what action would follow when financial and governance failures were identified. “This is about accountability. We want answers supported by facts,” he said.
The committees requested a breakdown of the UIFW expenditure regularised or written off, including the nature of each contravention, any financial loss, whether value was received, disciplinary action instituted, money recovered and if any criminal referrals were made. Members said a distinction was needed between procurement breaches where services were delivered and cases involving loss, waste, inflated prices, non-delivery or possible criminal conduct.
Committee members further raised concern that some cases may previously have been handled through ordinary labour relations processes rather than the financial misconduct framework prescribed by the Municipal Finance Management Act. The committees requested a legal and factual explanation of each affected case.
The committee also raised concerns about delays in disciplinary action. As the metro attributed delays to a backlog dating back more than a decade, missing documentation and former employees no longer working for the municipality. Committee members said these difficulties may explain the delays but could not justify that these matters remained unresolved indefinitely. The committee asked the metro for deadlines for each outstanding investigation and the action that would be taken against heads of department and senior managers who failed to provide information.
Members were concerned that previous disciplinary proceedings may have been conducted solely through ordinary labour relations processes rather than through the financial misconduct framework required by the Municipal Finance Management Act. The metro told the committees that this had raised potential double-jeopardy questions in some cases. Members insisted on a legal and factual explanation of each affected matter and the action the metro intended to take.
The metro’s complex institutional structure was another matter the committees grappled with. Members linked the lack of consequences for wrongdoing to the complex entity structure, which is weakening accountability. The committees heard that the metro operates through a core municipal administration and 13 municipal entities. Each entity had its own management, board, audit structures and reporting arrangements.
Members asked whether the metro’s political and administrative leadership can exercise proper control over these entities, especially in light of recurring audit findings, unreliable performance information, procurement and contract-management failures, unpaid creditors and the financial deterioration of major entities. The committees said it was often unclear whether responsibility rested with the city manager, the relevant member of the mayoral committee, group governance, an entity board or an entity’s chief executive officer.
Mr Zibi asked whether any other city in the world operated a similar complex governance structure. He noted that weak entities ultimately affected Johannesburg’s consolidated balance sheet, liquidity and cost of borrowing. The committees heard that the metro was conducting an institutional review to consider whether entities should be retained, merged, repurposed or incorporated into municipal departments. Members requested the total cost of the entities, including executive remuneration, board fees and support structures, as well as an assessment of the value each entity delivered. Among the concerns were the salaries earned by executives at these entities, relative to prevailing service delivery complaints. The committees said entities might be required to appear separately before Parliament.
The committees said Johannesburg’s recovery would ultimately be measured by completed investigations into non-compliance, consequences for proven wrongdoing, recovered losses and reliable services to residents.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, MR SONGEZO ZIBI AND THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, DR ZWELI MKHIZE.
For media inquiries or interviews with the Chairpersons, please contact the Media Officer:
Name: Alicestine October
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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