JOHANNESBURG — The City of Ekurhuleni lost R2 billion in electricity revenue collection following a major ICT system breach, Finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi has revealed.
Testifying before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Dlabathi attributed the substantial undercollection to system manipulation, including account deletions and unauthorized account alterations.
“We obviously presented quarterly reports to council and when we discovered that there was an undercollection of R2 billion on the electricity revenue, the leadership interrogated what could have been the root causes,” Dlabathi said. “We came to a determination that it was as a result of system manipulation, accounts being deleted, accounts being manipulated.”
He confirmed that the matter had been subjected to further investigation, with a request for the Auditor-General to conduct a forensic investigation.
The metro is facing mounting scrutiny over governance failures, poor audit outcomes, and ongoing corruption investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which has flagged irregular property transfers, fraudulent documentation, transfers without authority, and lack of compliance.
In response, DA City of Ekurhuleni finance spokesperson Fanyana Nkosi said the revenue loss pointed to a broader breakdown of the governance architecture. He noted that audit committees had repeatedly raised concerns about the vulnerability of the IT system to manipulation.
“Every quarter in the previous financial year, the audit committee had concern that the IT system is susceptible to manipulation,” Nkosi said. “That’s why we found ourselves where accounts were deleted. We found ourselves with a revenue shortfall.”
He called for professionalized oversight, digital verification of assets with no manual intervention, end-to-end tracking of property files, and integration of office systems.
Nkosi also blamed weak executive oversight for allowing officials to act with impunity. “The lack of leadership comes when you don’t have proper oversight from the executive. The executive does not take heed of what is being advised by the external auditors. Then you find yourself with what is happening where officials run along and do as they please.”
Meanwhile, Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza said disciplinary processes had been tightened following allegations raised at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. He explained that historically, suspended heads of department were placed at the center of disciplinary proceedings, but the bargaining council requires that discipline be carried out by a direct supervisor.
“That has since been corrected since the beginning of the new administration,” Xhakaza said.