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Council

Popular Coastal Council Reports That Its Debtors Book Has Reached R300m As Households Carry Most Of The Burden

By The Coastal Reporter · Port Alfred

11 September 2026 · 2 min read

This article was created using or in collaboration with AI. It was then reviewed, fact-checked and edited by a real human. Lastly, it was approved and published by a senior editor.

Popular Coastal Council Reports That Its Debtors Book Has Reached R300m As Households Carry Most Of The Burden

The Port Alfred-based municipality's latest financial report shows arrears are concentrated in households, while almost 70% of the debt is tied to Eskom electricity areas outside its direct control.

A small Eastern Cape seaside municipal council's debtors book climbed to R301.864m at the end of the fourth quarter, its financial year end, with households responsible for just over four-fifths of the total, according its own internal reports.

This is contained in the Ndlambe Local Municipality’s section 52(d) monitoring report for 2025/26 shows that just over 80% of the debt is owed by households, while 70%, or R210m, relates to debt in Eskom electricity areas, where the municipality says it has no control to enforce collection.

The municipality is headquartered in Port Alfred, a small town nestled between KuGompo City and Gqeberha on the R72 national road. Port Alfred is a seaside village and a moderately popular tourist and retirement town. Its most famous landmark is the Royal Port Alfred Marina - an upmarket residential estate that is located in the Kowie river. The estate boasts among its residents some of South Africa's prominent business leaders.

The latest figures, contained in a report tabled before a recent council meeting, point to pressure on the municipality’s cash flow at a time when revenue remains below budget. Year-to-date operational revenue came in at just under R657m against a budget of R732m -- leaving the council with a shortfall of R74.986m, or 10%.

While revenue collection improved to 87% in the fourth quarter, up from 78% in the previous quarter, several key service areas still fell short of target. Trading services revenue was R66.913m below budget, while water management revenue missed target by R37.142m and wastewater management revenue by R34.312m.

Spending was also below plan. Year-to-date operational expenditure stood at R644.014m against a budget of R805.252m, an underspend of R161.238m, or 20%. Capital expenditure was R182.101m against a budget of R232.934m.

The report says projects funded through human settlements grants were halted because expected funding was not received. It also records unauthorised expenditure of R3.585m in community services at year-end.

For residents and businesses, the debt levels raise questions about billing, affordability and the municipality’s ability to recover arrears, particularly in areas where electricity infrastructure falls outside its direct control.

Ndlambe Local Municipality and its finance and revenue management division had not responded at the time of publication.

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