The eThekwini Municipality’s Energy Management Directorate stated that it has a new meter contract in place to address a backlog of applications.
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Auditors have found that the eThekwini Municipality was not complying with the 30-day timeline for electricity meter installation, leading to income losses.
The municipality recorded a loss of R1.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. A report from the Internal Audit (IA) and the Audit Risk Committee (ARC) for the second quarter, covering October 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, was presented to the eThekwini Executive Committee on Tuesday.
Other findings and concerns by the Internal Audit were that there were ineffective control over meter installations that are in progress, ineffective assessment of applications by the planning workgroup, cancellations of electrical meter applications, and gaps that exist in the current standard operating procedures.
The report outlined that the municipality is relying on the Trading Services Reform Turnaround Strategies and a grant from the National Treasury to reduce these losses to an acceptable norm.
In response, the municipality’s Energy Management Directorate explained that it now has a meter contract in place to ensure the availability of materials for connection work.
Siboniso Shabalala, the former ARC chairperson, stated that as of December 31, 2025, there were 111 items still not resolved on the ARC audit log, while 52 of these items were over 180 days overdue for implementation.
“The electricity losses continue to exceed the National Treasury benchmark. The effective rollout of the initiatives management has in place is imperative, and the success should be monitored by executive management and oversight structures,” Shabalala reported.
In terms of the benchmark, water losses should be between 15 and 30%, and electricity losses should be between 7 and 10%.
The IA was also concerned about the submission of incomplete manual applications, incomplete design sketches, and supporting evidence not attached to the application forms.
The ARC also provided oversight into technical services by receiving feedback from management on the financial performance of the department regarding water quality, electricity, and water losses.
The ARC noted that the audit of the end-to-end process for the provision of electricity meters was conducted to evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of controls implemented.
City Manager Musa Mbhele stated that the municipality is assisting with material availability for connections to be undertaken timeously.
“The current backlogs of applications awaiting connections as a result of not having meters for an extended period of time are affecting the national rationalised specifications timelines for service provision within 30 days, where existing services are available,” he said.
Mbhele said that the deliverables going forward shall aim to meet the service delivery targets once the existing backlogs have been eradicated. He said that control measures have been put in place for meter installations.
The ARC is an independent advisory body that must advise the eThekwini management of internal financial control, internal audit, risk management processes, performance management, and financial reporting.