Checked 27 October 2026
Where the facts in this claim come from
Every fact on the claim page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
What does the evidence show?
Why it is Verified
Water losses are water a metro puts into its pipes but does not sell. The Auditor-General's 2024-25 report gives this figure on its Cape Town page. Its audit report on the City calls the electricity losses material, which means big enough to matter. It names no material water losses.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: Printed page 213 (PDF page 217), City of Cape Town dashboard, 'Distribution losses over administration': 'Water losses R0,48bn (0 years more than 30% norm)'; 'Electricity losses R2,42bn (4 years more than 10% norm)'. Printed page 214 (PDF page 218), paragraph 3: 'Distribution losses, particularly electricity losses, resulted in billable revenue not being invoiced and collected.'
City of Cape Town. Published 1 April 2026.
Where to look: Printed page 122 (PDF page 63), report of the Auditor-General, heading 'Material losses': its only paragraph, 17, covers electricity ('material electricity losses of R1,06 billion ... 11,23% ... of total electricity purchased'); the next heading, 'Subsequent events', starts at paragraph 18. No water loss is named there. (Date is the PDF creation date, 1 Apr 2026.)
What did the council do, and when?
Who ran the council
Mayor: Geordin Hill-Lewis (DA). Council run by DA. From Nov 2021 to present.
SABC News. Published 18 November 2021.
Where to look: Paragraph 1 (the City elected Hill-Lewis as mayor); paragraph 4 (141 votes out of 224 councillors present in the 231-seat council); paragraph 5 (embedded City post: 'today, 18 November 2021, during a full Inaugural Meeting of the Council')
Daily Maverick. Published 19 November 2021.
Where to look: Paragraph 1: Hill-Lewis 'was on Thursday elected Cape Town's executive mayor by 141 votes out of 224 ballots returned'
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 23 May 2022.
Where to look: Page 4 of 6, 'Total Party Seats' table: DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 135 (83 ward, 52 PR); page 6 of 6: total 231 seats (no printed date; date is the PDF creation date, 23 May 2022)
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: PDF page 182 (printed page 178), table 'Instability in key leadership positions': City of Cape Town, mayor incumbents over the past four years: 1
EWN. Published 20 August 2026.
Where to look: Headline ('... in final council address') and paragraph 3 ('In his final address to council for the term on Thursday, Hill-Lewis ...')
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