Joburg council approves write-off of about R918m in historical irregular and unauthorised expenditure

The City of Johannesburg council has approved the writing off of about R918 million in historical irregular and unauthorised expenditure after its Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) reported missing supporting documents for many of the items under review.

What the council approved

The council approved MPAC’s recommendation to write off, condone or regularise nearly R877 million in historical irregular expenditure and more than R41 million in unauthorised expenditure. MPAC’s report compiled findings from investigations into 42 separate reports.

Why documents were missing

MPAC said supporting documents could not be found for many historical matters, forcing the committee to rely on sworn statements after guidance from the National Treasury. The committee’s work covered irregular expenditure spanning different financial years.

Councillors respond

“This report (tabled before council) is the culmination of investigations into 42 reports with recommendations dealing with over R876m in historical irregular expenditure and more than R41m in unauthorised expenditure,”

ActionSA councillor Phiwokuhle Xulu said, adding that the amounts were not insignificant and that the lack of documentation was “an indictment of past administrations.”

DA councillor Julie Suddaby said the writing off comes days before a National Treasury deadline for the city to reduce its unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (UIFW) by 86% by June 30, or risk the July 2026 equitable share tranche. She said the DA opposed the write-off and described it as “gross.”

Suddaby said the almost R877 million in irregular expenditure included amounts from the 2010/11 to 2015/16 financial years and that other balances came from years 2022 to 2026. She said MPAC investigators could not locate procurement committee minutes, contracts, service level agreements, communications, proof of work, invoices or payment records for some of the 10- to 16-year-old matters.

“The request to regularise, condone, and write-off the ten to 16-year-old identified by the Auditor-General comes from the inability of the investigators to access the supporting documentation required to determine the recoverability of the irregular expenditure”,

Suddaby said.

ANC ward 33 councillor Nompumelelo Mazibuko noted that MPAC had received guidance from the National Treasury, saying the Treasury advised that where records cannot be located despite reasonable efforts, accounting officers and finance executives should provide sworn affidavits confirming steps taken to find the missing records. Mazibuko said Treasury guidelines do not absolve the city of its recordkeeping responsibilities.

EFF councillor Johannes Mosethla said the party supported the write-offs but demanded accountability, consequence management and action against corruption. He listed a series of weaknesses identified in the report, including lack of accountability, weak internal controls, non-compliance with financial legislation, poor contract and supply chain management, delays in investigations and inadequate recordkeeping.

MPAC’s position and next steps

MPAC relied on the Auditor-General’s UIFW register and the National Treasury’s guidance in coming to its recommendations. The committee stated that recommendations to write off expenditure do not imply condoning non-compliance but reflect an assessment that the expenditure is not recoverable after all reasonable avenues were exhausted.

Concerns about governance

Councillors across parties warned the write-offs highlight ongoing governance and financial-discipline problems. Calls in the council reflected a shared demand for stronger consequence management where there is evidence of misconduct or criminality and for improved document management and internal controls.

Reporting is based on the council report and statements made at the council meeting as presented to MPAC.