Opposition raises alarm over R5.3 billion deficit, backdated wage increases, and billions spent on water tankers at council meeting.
The second City of Tshwane council meeting of the year is expected to heat up today as the opposition gets ready to take on the city’s budget.
DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink has written to National Treasury to point out the city’s budget is not funded and request a funding plan as well as an investigation into water tanker spending.
This comes after the mayor, Nasiphi Moya, last week announced the resolution of the 3.5% wage dispute dating back to 2021.
Brink demands funding plan and investigation into overspending
Moya said the agreement covered 21 089 employees and would be paid over three years and calculated from 1 July, 2021 on basic salary, with effect from 1 March 2026.
But Brink said the city had chosen to pay salary increases instead of trying resolve the ongoing water and electricity services crisis.
He added Tshwane did not have a funded budget and the city’s financial distress has deepened despite attempts to hide the cash-flow situation.
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“At the end of this year, the books of the city will reveal an enormous increase in unauthorised expenditure on water tankers,” he said.
Brink said the backdated salary increases, which the city could have taken on review to the Labour Court, have widened the city’s deficit.
“The deficit has increased from R1.63 billion to R2.8 billion.
Backdated salary increases
“A further R2.5 billion in creditors have been carried over from the previous financial year, effectively increasing the deficit to R5.3 billion,” he said.
Brink added that if the city wants to plug this gap, it must drastically improve revenue collection.
He added revenue collection has deteriorated badly since the takeover of the ANC-led coalition, from 93% in 2024 to 82% by the end of 2025.
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“To improve the city’s balance sheet and reduce the percentage of uncollected debt, the city proposes to write off upward of R8 billion of debt it regards as having prescribed.
“One practice which the chief financial officer [CFO] seems to have ended was to cover unauthorised expenditure on water tankers by allocating new money to pay old invoices in the adjustment budget,” Brink added.
He said while no new money will be allocated to water tankers, in the year-to-date, R125 million has already been overspent on water tankers.
Overspending on water tankers
“We expect the overspending to be much bigger, since this budget adjustment only covers half of the financial year.
“All money that the city of Tshwane spends on water tankers from now until June will be declared unauthorised and investigated as such,” he said.
Brink added that R7 million is being taken away from the upgrade of the Sunderland Ridge wastewater treatment plant, R12 million is being taken away from the upgrade of the Ekangala wastewater treatment plant and R7 million is being taken away from a project to upgrade telemetry in Tshwane reservoirs.
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“No wonder the ANC wants to get rid of the CFO,” he added.
Tshwane mayoral spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said it isn’t true.
“We are tabling the adjustments at council today,” Mgobozi added.
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