The Democratic Alliance (DA) is taking action to compel the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality (IYLM) and the Provincial Government to resolve the municipality’s Eskom debt crisis.
This follows on the DA receiving responses from the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Zolile Williams, which confirmed the IYLM’s R752 million debt to Eskom.
Shockingly, this figure has increased by more than R300 million in less than two years, due to ongoing non-compliance with payment plans, repeated defaulting, and accumulation of interest and penalties.
Over the past six months Inxuba Yethemba has managed to pay only R2 million to Eskom. This is a token amount that does not begin to address the crisis.
Despite signing a cooperation agreement with Eskom in May 2025, the municipality has failed to honour its own commitments.
In response to a parliamentary question from the DA, the MEC himself admits that departmental interventions have not really been effective and that no resources have been allocated to support financial recovery.
We will, therefore, table a motion at council to ringfence funds paid by the public for electricity so those funds service only the Eskom usages and Eskom debt.
Furthermore, the DA will table questions at council requiring a full explanation as to why the municipality defaulted on its obligations in terms of the cooperation agreement with Eskom and Provincial Treasury.
Provincial Parliamentary questions will also be put to Provincial Treasury and CoGTA to confirm if an affordability assessment was part of the cooperation agreement and what will be done from Provincial level to stem the tide of the debt.
Residents and businesses have pursued legal action to compel electricity supply, while many households continue to live under the constant threat of power disruptions. Instead of providing solutions, CoGTA has limited itself to persuading the municipality to negotiate payment plans it cannot afford.
The DA cannot allow this reckless financial mismanagement to continue. The people of Nxuba and Middelburg deserve reliable services, transparent governance, and a municipality that lives within its means.