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AUDITOR-GENERAL TSAKANI MALULEKE TABLED THE CONSOLIDATED REPORT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUDIT OUTCOMES 2024-25 ON 24 JUNE 2026
Issued by Christo van der Rheede on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 25/06/2026
Overall State: The 2024-25 Auditor-General report reveals that local government has failed to achieve a turnaround, resulting in unreliable services and failing infrastructure.
Stagnant Outcomes: 57% of municipalities maintained their poor 2020-21 audit outcomes, while 15% regressed.
Rare Clean Audits: Only 15% of municipalities achieved a clean audit, representing a mere 8% of the total expenditure budget.
Failing Metros: None of the metropolitan municipalities achieved a clean audit, despite managing 54% of the total budget and serving 46% of the country’s households.
Severe Financial Distress: 45% of municipalities adopted unfunded budgets, committing to R288.17 billion they do not have.
Flawed Reporting: 76% of municipalities submitted financial statements containing material misstatements.
Massive Revenue Losses: Infrastructure neglect caused R14.73 billion in water losses and R21.63 billion in electricity losses.
Irregular Expenditure: Municipalities incurred R145.21 billion in irregular expenditure since 2021-22, driven almost entirely (87%) by procurement and contract non-compliance.
Zero Accountability: Governance failures are pervasive, with councils frequently writing off irregular expenditure instead of investigating fraud indicators or enforcing consequences.
Wasted Consulting Fees: Despite spending R1.61 billion on financial consultants, 61% of those municipalities still submitted flawed financial statements due to severe internal skills gaps.
Free State & North West: Both provinces recorded a 100% rate of material non-compliance across all municipalities. These provinces also struggle with the highest average number of compliance findings.
Financial Distress: North West (59%) and Free State (52%) have the highest percentages of municipalities with “unfavourable” financial health ratings.
Northern Cape: Follows closely with 97% of municipalities reporting material non-compliance findings.
Gauteng: Notable for significant regressions in audit outcomes among its metropolitan municipalities, severely impacting service delivery for a large portion of the population.
Western Cape: Continues to demonstrate the strongest adherence to legislation, while the Free State and North West remain the most critically challenged.
Available at: Audit 2024-25
A GUIDE ON WHO DOES WHAT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
A guide for citizens on who does what in local government
THE CCTSA WINS CULTURAL AWARD
The Centre for the Constitutional Transformation of South Africa (CCTSA) is delighted to announce that it was named winner of the Heritage, Memory and Identity category at this year’s Western Cape Cultural Affairs Awards, held in Cape Town on 9 September 2026. The CCTSA is dedicated to telling the story of South Africa’s constitutional journey. The awards, hosted annually by the Western Cape Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, recognise individuals and organisations that make a meaningful contribution to the cultural, linguistic and heritage life of the province.
STATE CAPTURE IS HOLDING BACK SOUTH AFRICA
After Nelson Mandela was elected in 1994 his government abolished racially segregated local authorities, creating ostensibly integrated municipalities. Today these range in size from Johannesburg, the commercial capital, to units like Mpofana that comprise a small town and rural areas. All are supposed to fund themselves through property taxes, business rates and charges for water, electricity and waste collection. The poorest also get a grant from the central government to fill any gap between revenue and expenditure.