Mukuru customers face balance errors after technical glitch

On the morning of June 19, thousands of Mukuru customers in South Africa woke up to missing funds from their accounts. Some found their balances down by thousands of rand or to zero. Mukuru blamed a technical glitch for the error adding that it is only how balances are shown that has been affected not the actual funds in users’ accounts.

“All funds are safe and the issue only impacted how balances were shown, not the actual funds,” Mukuru told TechCabal.

Nevertheless, the glitch has caused panic for users, especially Zimbabwean migrants, who rely on the platform for daily financial transactions and cross-border remittances.

User Bekinkosi Goromondo said  his wife received an early morning call from a friend urging her to check her Mukuru account. “She found her balance short by R4,000 (over $200). She called me, and I saw R200 (over $11) missing from mine. When I called Mukuru, customer service confirmed a technical glitch and promised it would be fixed by the end of the day,” he said.

Ntombi Dube, who discovered her account was R1,300 (about $74) short around midday, immediately withdrew the remaining funds out of fear. “With panic, I removed the remaining balance as I was saving it for something important,” she said.

On social media, especially Facebook, users voiced their frustration, demanding urgent resolution. Many remain worried about the safety of their funds.

Mukuru is one of Africa’s largest money transfer and financial services platforms, with over 16 million customers and more than 150 info centres across South Africa. The company’s South African user base is predominantly composed of Zimbabwean migrants, the largest migrant group in the country, who rely on Mukuru to send money home.

This incident comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny over the platform’s digital security. In Zimbabwe, two employees were charged with stealing US$100,000 using fraudulent accounts on the platform. In South Africa, the platform uncovered a sophisticated fraud ring involving SIM swaps totalling over R18 million (nearly $1 million), more a factor of  customer vulnerabilities than a breach of Mukuru’s security systems.

This episode also comes as South Africa tightens electronic funds transfer (EFT) regulations, requiring greater due diligence and enhanced fraud protections for cross-border transactions. These regulatory shifts aim to bolster the security of digital payments, especially for the region’s large migrant and remittance-dependent communities.

For now, Mukuru says the technical issue has not compromised customer funds and is working to restore account balances to normal. Customers have been notified about the glitch and are encouraged to monitor their accounts and contact Mukuru support for any unresolved issues.

This is a developing story.

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