eThekwini City Manager Musa Mbhele said the municipality achieved a 94% cumulative revenue-collection rate and generated R48.58 billion in own revenue during the 2025/26 financial year. The figures appear in an eThekwini statement dated 8 October 2026 on the closing of the 97th CIGFARO conference in Durban.
The municipality said the three-day conference at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre focused on municipal performance, governance, financial management, digital technology, transparency and financial reporting. Mbhele linked financial resilience to accurate billing, stronger collection, lower revenue leakage and a broader revenue base.
An official news item dated 9 October says the conference concluded 'today', while the fuller municipal statement says it concluded on 8 October. Civic Ledger records 8 October as the event's closing date and 9 October as the later news-page publication date because the two official pages are not internally consistent.
The 94% and R48.58 billion figures are attributed to the City Manager and have not been independently reconciled here with eThekwini's audited annual financial statements. The releases give no procurement identifier, contract award, new expenditure commitment or council resolution. The next verification points are the 2025/26 annual financial statements, the Auditor-General's report, Section 71 revenue reports, debtor ageing and cash-collection reconciliations.
What it means
A 94% collection rate would support eThekwini's capacity to fund services and infrastructure, but the measure is only decision-useful once its basis, arrears treatment and cash reconciliation can be tested against audited records.
Correction history
No material correction is recorded for this article as of 11 October 2026. Any correction will be listed on the corrections register.