Metropolitan Municipality

Buffalo City

R1.7 billion

Total value of 2 documented incidents

EC · East LondonBUF

Accountability IndexDraft

Composite 0–100 score (higher = better), from audit opinion, capex execution and linked incidents.

Strained

Audit67%: 50/100qualified
Capex—: n/acapex data not yet available
Incidents33%: 60/1002 incidents on record

Missing components (capex) excluded; remaining weights renormalised.

Linked incidents

Corruption incidents documented in the 4FactSake archive and linked to this municipality.

Municipal Collapse2022

Buffalo City Metro Financial Collapse: R1.71 Billion Irregular Expenditure

DocumentedRamaphosa EraNo Action

R1.71 billion

Tender Fraud / Procurement2013

Mandela Funeral Funds: R10m Buffalo City Memorial Budget Diverted to ANC T-Shirts and Politicians

DocumentedZuma EraProsecution

R6 million+ (alleged misappropriation of the R10m budget, NPA charge sheet)

Leadership

Current municipal officials accountable for governance and finance, sourced from National Treasury.

Mayor

Ms Princess Faku

princessf@buffalocity.gov.za

Deputy Mayor

Mrs Ntombizandiile

ntombizandilem@buffalocity.gov.za

Municipal Manager

Mr Mxolisi Yawa

mxolisiy@buffalocity.gov.za

Chief Financial Officer

Mr Siyabulela Peter

siyabulelap@buffalocity.gov.za

Speaker

Mr Alfred Mtsi

afredm@buffalocity.gov.za

Demographics — Census 2022

Per-capita normalisation lets us put the financial figures into human terms.

Population

975 255

Households

270 390

Unemployment

35.1%

Electricity94.6%

Piped water83.7%

Flush toilet80.7%

Refuse collected72.5%

Documented exposure: R2k per resident

Political control (IEC)

Who is currently running this municipality, and what the most recent council election produced.

Currently running

ANC

Status

Outright majority

Since

22 Nov 2021

ANC retained majority in 2021 LGE. OPERATOR: confirm current mayor.

Local Government Elections 2021

ANC61seats(61.0%)majority

DA20seats(20.0%)

EFF13seats(13.0%)

OTH6seats(6.0%)

Conditional grants (Treasury)

National + provincial grants flowing to this muni. Conditional grants are tied to specific outcomes — underspend is a red flag for delivery, not a saving.

Latest year

23/24

Adjusted budget

R1.09B

Actually spent

R347.5M

Unspent

R740.5M

Utilisation

31.9%Severely underspent

R347M spent

R740M unspent

32% spent68% unspent

Largest conditional grants — box size = budget, colour = utilisation

Box size = budget · colour = utilisation (green = spent, red = underspent, hollow = no data). Hover a grant.

Equitable Share (unconditional)

ESG·Local Government Equitable Share

no data

R1.14B budgeted·— spent

ESG is not a conditional grant — it can be spent at the muni's discretion. Shown for scale only.

Tender awards (eTender Publication Portal)

Cross-referenced against the Restricted Suppliers List on the award date.

No award notices on file for this municipality yet. Coverage expands as the operator transcribes from eTenders.gov.za.

Once awards are loaded, this panel surfaces every published contract awarded by the muni, with B-BBEE level, supplier registration, and a flag for any awards made to suppliers on the National Restricted Suppliers List.

Accountability trajectory · 2020 – 2026

The line traces the audit opinion (higher = cleaner); bars are irregular/fruitless/unauthorised expenditure, dots are documented incidents, and dashed markers are Section 139 interventions. Sustained decline rarely happens in a single bad year.

Financial Health — FY24/25

Cash position, solvency, and infrastructure-maintenance signal. Source: National Treasury cflow_v2 + financial_position_v2 + repmaint_v2.

Cash on hand

R731.0M

Net assets

R43.01B

Operating cash flow

—

Repairs & maintenance

R379.9M

National Treasury & AGSA

Public finance data ingested directly from National Treasury cubes (incexp_v2, capital_v2, audit_opinions, uifwexp).

Latest Audit Outcome — FY23/24

Qualified

Irregular: R1.32B
Fruitless: R693k
Unauthorised: R403.5M

AGSA report

Capital Spending — FY25/26

Original budgetR2.26B

Adjusted budgetR2.66B

Actual—

Treasury §71·76d agoTreasury MTREF·12d agoAGSA MFMA·today

Aged Balances — FY24/25

Receivables from ratepayers (debtors) and amounts owed to suppliers (creditors). Source: National Treasury aged_debtor_v2 + aged_creditor_v2 cubes.

Owed TO the muni (receivables)

R9.15B

R5.55B (61%) over 1 year — effectively uncollectable

Water: R2.88B
Electricity: R1.46B
Property rates: R2.19B

Owed BY the muni (creditors)

R1.62B

Bulk electricity(Eskom): R372.8M
Bulk water: R27.8M
Trade: R1.01B

AGSA Material Irregularities

Section 4(3) MI register — specific findings the Auditor-General has flagged for active investigation, recommendations, or referral to law enforcement.

9 material irregularities on record

Likely substantial harm to general public — notified 2023-05-10

Unresolved

FY24/25

AGSA action:Appropriate action not taken - Decision on Invoking powers in process / Not appropriate action - submission to MIU in process

Source

Likely substantial harm to public sector institution — notified 2025-06-23

Recommendations Made

FY24/25

AGSA action:Appropriate action being taken to resolve MI / Appropriate actions - follow-up not yet due

Source

Likely substantial harm to general public — notified 2025-11-26

Identified

FY24/25

AGSA action:Notified and awaiting response / Notified - Awaiting response

Source

Likely substantial harm to general public — notified 2025-11-26

Identified

FY24/25

AGSA action:Notified and awaiting response / Notified - Awaiting response

Source

Likely substantial harm to general public — notified 2025-11-26

Identified

FY24/25

AGSA action:Notified and awaiting response / Notified - Awaiting response

Source

Likely material financial loss — notified 2021-03-24

Resolved

FY24/25

AGSA action:Resolved MI / Resolved in prior periods

Source

Likely material financial loss — notified 2022-03-29

Resolved

FY24/25

AGSA action:Resolved MI / Resolved in prior periods

Source

Likely material financial loss — notified 2022-12-08

Unresolved

FY24/25

AGSA action:Appropriate action not taken - Decision on Invoking powers in process / Not appropriate action - submitted to MIU

Source

Likely material financial loss — notified 2022-07-04

Resolved

FY24/25

AGSA action:Resolved MI / Resolved

Source

Methodology & sources

Live data from National Treasury cubes (incexp_v2, capital_v2, audit_opinions, uifwexp, aged_debtor_v2, aged_creditor_v2, cflow_v2, financial_position_v2, repmaint_v2, officials) and operator-curated AGSA Section 4(3) Material Irregularities, Stats SA Census, Cogta Section 139 intervention records, DWS Blue / Green / No Drop water-services audits, IEC Local Government Election results + political control history, and Treasury conditional grants (grants_v2) — allocation versus actual spend per grant. The Accountability Index methodology is a draft pending sensitivity testing — treat the score as a working signal, not a final verdict. It currently weighs three of four intended signals — audit opinion (50%), capital-budget execution (25%) and linked corruption incidents (25%); a fourth pillar, service delivery (Stats SA non-financial census), is not yet wired in. Where a signal is missing for a municipality, its weight is renormalised across the rest.