CITY OF EKURHULENI EXPLAINS 13 BILLION FIGURES

The City of Ekurhuleni noted the recent political commentary regarding a reported R13 billion balance owed to its service providers. To provide clarity to the public, the City said the R13 billion reﬂects the creditor balance at the month-end of 30 June 2025, and it should not be interpreted as overdue or outstanding debt across all service providers. It is also important to note that by 30 September 2025, a substantial portion of these balances had already been settled, underscoring that this was never overdue debt but part of the City’s normal financial cycle, the City added.A signiﬁcant portion of this balance relates to bulk services supplied to the City, and not to small businesses in the main, as purported. The main contributors at 30 June 2025 were: * ESKOM: R5,8bn * ERWAT: R1,1bn* Rand Water: R440m (current account – meaning invoices due as part of the latest billing cycle, not arrears)* The higher creditor balance recorded as at 30 June 2025 is mainly attributable to two factors:*Increased spending on projects that were being finalised at the close of the financial year, resulting in higher volumes of invoices being processed; the reconciliation process during year-end, where invoices are accrued based on supplier statements to ensure full and accurate financial disclosure.By 2 October 2025, the City says it had already reduced its trade creditor balance by R10.2 billion, reflecting significant progress in addressing outstanding obligations.It says formal payment arrangements are in place with Eskom and Rand Water, and all invoices relating to the 30 June 2025 billing cycle for these two bulk suppliers have been paid in full and will continue to honour these arrangements as part of prudent cash-ﬂow management. Part of the City’s ability to accelerate the payment of outstanding creditors depends on the revenue it collects from municipal services. In this regard, CoE urges all users of municipal services to pay their accounts on time, as this directly supports service delivery and strengthens the City’s capacity to meet its obligations to suppliers.