The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) questions the discrepancy between the financial picture painted by the Ekurhuleni Metro in a recent public statement and the figures in the Metro’s unaudited financial and performance results for the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, tabled to the Council on Thursday.
According to the Metro’s statement, published in the Brakpan Herald on 28 July, Ekurhuleni’s total outstanding creditors amounted to approximately R8 billion at the end of May 2026.
The Metro indicated that about half of the amount comprised current invoices that had not yet reached their payment dates and correctly warned that a total creditors’ balance should not automatically be deemed outstanding debt.
The Freedom Front Plus concurs with this distinction, but it does not explain the Metro’s most recent financial figures.
The fourth-quarter report indicates that Ekurhuleni’s total creditors stood at approximately R13,26 billion on 30 June 2026.
This includes R7,23 billion owed to Eskom, R3,11 billion to Rand Water and R1,11 billion to ERWAT. So, the reported creditors’ balance shot up by about R5,26 billion within a single month.
The Metro’s own report acknowledges that its current financial position negatively impacts its payment of outstanding creditors, mainly due to lower revenue collection.
The Freedom Front Plus wants an explanation for why the creditors’ balance climbed from approximately R8 billion to R13,26 billion in just one month.
The Metro should fully and transparently disclose how much of the R13,26 billion is made up of current invoices, how much is in arrears, how much falls under formal payment arrangements and how much represents historical debt.
The creditors’ balance is just one cause for concern, though. The performance results show that outstanding consumer debtors have reached approximately R39,7 billion, of which R31,9 billion – more than 80% – has been outstanding for longer than 90 days.
At the same time, electricity revenue falls approximately R2,83 billion short of the budget; while the Metro had only 20 days of cash flow at the end of June even though the target is 21 days.
Although the Metro reports an annual collection rate of 90,38%, this percentage should not be considered in isolation – especially not while billions in consumer debt are accumulating and the creditors’ balance continues to grow.
The Freedom Front Plus is not accusing the Metro of being R13,26 billion in arrears; the party merely demands that the discrepancy be fully and transparently disclosed.
The Metro needs to reconcile its public statement about the R8 billion in creditors at the end of May with the R13,26 billion reported for 30 June.
The Freedom Front Plus will take up the matter in the Finance Oversight Committee, and demand answers regarding the creditors’ balance, the R39,7 billion debtors’ book, the R31,9 billion debt older than 90 days, the shortfall in the budgeted electricity revenue and the pressure on Ekurhuleni’s cash flow.
When billions of rand are at stake, every figure should be explained, every discrepancy reconciled and every financial risk disclosed to residents.
Ekurhuleni residents deserve more than the assurance that the Metro is managing its finances well – they deserve to see figures that prove it.
It is time to oust the ANC and replace it with a government that deeply cares about every single Ekurhuleni resident.
