The eThekwini Municipality has written off R13.5 million in irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure deemed irrecoverable from the 2024/25 financial year.
However, in compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), fruitless and wasteful expenditure totalling R71 million is expected to be recovered from the relevant officials and former officials of the municipality.
A report from the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) on unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure (UIFWE) for various directorates for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years disclosed deviations from the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Policy. The report also gave the reasons for the deviation and the value of the expenditure.
The report explained that R7.7 million in UIFWE was incurred when a former employee in the Energy Management Directorate failed to pay an invoice, resulting in a court order against the municipality.
A summary in the report outlined that fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R63.4 million was incurred by the Energy Management Directorate and the Office of the City Manager due to the failure to award the Pholoba projects as per the court settlement.
The City Integrity and Investigations Directorate (CIID) recommended that an employee of the Parks and Recreation Department pay R24,600 after losing a debit/credit card standalone machine, a case that went back to the 2019/20 financial year.
The MPAC reports, along with supporting documents, were submitted to the Internal Control Division for review and to the Bid Adjudication Committee.
The MPAC report stated that the municipal Internal Control Division reviewed and applied its mind to the reports and considered whether there was any value for money obtained or any losses suffered due to non-compliance.
The Auditor-General also identified other irregularities through an audit.
Councillor Thamisanqa Xuma, chairperson of MPAC in eThekwini, stated that the MPAC believes that officials should be held responsible for incurring UIFWE and that the necessary disciplinary proceedings should be instituted in this regard.
He said it is unfortunately not MPAC’s responsibility to undertake such actions. It is the sole responsibility of the accounting officer and his management, with the Financial Misconduct Disciplinary Board playing a role in instances of financial misconduct.
“As part of our oversight duties, we receive quarterly reports from the board and the executive director corporate services, to monitor the implementation of consequence management in the municipality,” Xuma stated.
