DA welcomes Scopa pressure on eThekwini

Staff Reporter

The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini said on Tuesday it welcomed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ (Scopa) decision to press the municipality for answers on allegations of corruption, maladministration, delayed projects and poor consequence management.

The DA said Scopa’s intervention followed “ongoing calls by the DA for accountability” on issues including the Inanda Namibia Stop 8 housing project, where it said more than R140 million had been spent despite the project remaining incomplete nearly a decade later.

Scopa met eThekwini last week as part of hearings into the latest Auditor-General findings and Special Investigating Unit probes.

The Auditor-General identified major procurement irregularities in eThekwini, including R1.54 billion in uncompetitive and unfair procurement deviations.

The AG also found R311.76 million in irregular expenditure linked to supply-chain failures, contracts worth R6.16 million awarded to employees’ spouses or business partners, and contracts worth R3.63 million awarded to other state officials.

Non-revenue water losses in eThekwini had risen to R2.92 billion in 2024/25 from R1.99 billion the previous year, with the AG attributing the losses to ageing infrastructure, burst pipes, illegal water connections and weak monitoring systems.

Scopa’s hearing also focused on delayed infrastructure projects. The AG had audited seven infrastructure projects and found serious weaknesses in all of them, including delays, poor contract management and cost escalations. These included the Etafuleni housing project, the Austerville electricity substation project and the Solomon Mahlangu Drive upgrade.

Scopa chairperson Songezo Zibi wrote to eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba requesting detailed feedback on several matters, including the housing project in Inanda, a long-running sanitation project dating back to 2019.

Zibi also wanted clarity on water tanker service providers, alleged metro police recruitment fraud, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and labour-related matters involving suspensions and disciplinary hearings.  

The DA said the municipality’s increasing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and