eThekwini Municipality reports R790 million in irregular expenditure for 2025/26 amid warnings of deteriorating financial position

eThekwini Municipality's own Finance Committee budget statement reported R790 million in irregular expenditure for the 2025/26 financial year, including R401 million tied to expired contracts between July and December 2025, on top of separately reported R780 million in unauthorised expenditure written off and R1.4 billion in cumulative unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure. Mayor Cyril Xaba responded by pointing to a January 2026 letter he sent the Auditor-General committing to strengthen ICT governance, infrastructure oversight and monitoring of audit action plans.