ANC insourcing increased security costs from R117 million to R218 million per year

DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis warned that insourcing in municipalities can cost taxpayers significantly more and that it is doubling down on ANC failures.

Hill-Lewis shared his views on the ANC’s re-municipalisation plan in a statement on 14 September 2026.

The ANC’s plan is to bring outsourced services such as cleaning, security, waste collection, meter reading, and water tankers back into the staff structure.

“What this means is the ANC is doubling down on its failures. It will affect your monthly household budget and offers no guarantee of improved service delivery,” he said.

Hill-Lewis cited many examples of where insourcing has cost South African taxpayers more than outsourced services.

• In Mangaung, the cost of insourcing security guards was around 20% higher than the existing private-sector service, resulting in an additional cost of R18.7 million.

• In eThekwini, officials estimated that insourcing security could cost twice as much.

• Another eThekwini feasibility study put the cost of a partial insourcing at R2.6 billion, compared with more than R4 billion for full insourcing.

• In Nelson Mandela Bay, insourced security costs rose from an expected R117 million a year to R180 million, and then nearly doubled to R218 million.

“This is the problem with treating public and private as ideological badges. The resident still pays for it regardless,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said the DA believes municipalities must be strong, professional, and capable, but they do not have to do everything themselves.

“We support using public-private partnerships and external providers where they can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and bring in scarce expertise,” he said.

“On waste collection, for example, we propose using private providers where financially feasible to reduce costs and improve efficiency.”

He highlighted that the DA does not argue for outsourcing everything. Nor is it an argument against municipal workers.

“Where a municipality is delivering excellent services, it can continue to do so. It is a simple principle that benefits the public,” he said.