Note to editors: You can download a sound clip in English from Cllr Bettie Lawens.
Damning revelations have come to light, exposing how the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality completely disregarded several payment agreements put in place to curb its spiralling Eskom debt.
Despite defaulting on the National Treasury Municipal Debt Relief Programme and then entering into an additional debt relief agreement, the municipality continued to ignore payments due to the parastatal, racking up an additional R111 million in debt while paying back just over R2 million.
In response to a question submitted in the Eastern Cape Legislature by DA MPL Heinrich Müller, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Zolile Williams revealed that Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality’s Eskom debt had reached approximately R799.8 million by August 2025.
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Download IQP response here.
Documents included in Williams’s response show the true extent of IYLM’s culture of non-payment.
An Eskom presentation dated 10 October 2025 shows that, across six billing cycles between April and September, IYLM was billed R111.1 million but paid only R2 million. This amounts to less than 2% of the electricity billed during that period. One month, the municipality’s total repayment amounted to just R2 780.02, against a monthly bill of close to R12.8 million.
Download the presentation here.
This directly breached the April 2025 cooperation agreement, which required IYLM to pay its current Eskom account in full and contribute at least R500,000 a month towards its arrears.
The pattern has continued. Eskom told the NCOP in August 2026 that IYLM’s overdue debt had reached approximately R943 million by the end of June. This was a further increase of more than R143 million in ten months.
Eskom also confirmed that the municipality’s proposed monthly payment was insufficient to cover its current electricity account and that IYLM had not committed to implementing a Distribution Agency Agreement.
In May 2026, Eskom placed IYLM on a bulk prepayment arrangement, limiting the municipality’s electricity supply to the amount it had paid for in advance. Eskom has since warned that it may have no option but to proceed with a PAJA process against the municipality.
I will submit a formal question to Council demanding the latest Eskom balance, a full reconciliation of electricity revenue collected and payments made to Eskom, clarity on IYLM’s compliance with the debt-relief programme, and an explanation of why the municipality has not committed to the Distribution Agency Agreement.
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Residents who pay for electricity deserve to know what happened to that revenue and why the municipality repeatedly failed to honour its obligations.
A DA-led administration would ring-fence electricity revenue, prioritise the current Eskom account, implement a credible repayment plan, and report monthly to Council and residents on revenue collected and payments made.
IYLM cannot begin reducing its historic debt while it continues creating new debt. The DA will bring the financial discipline and accountability needed to stabilise the municipality and protect residents from further electricity insecurity.
