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Power & Money

Troubled Ndlambe Misses Revenue Target As Debtors Top R300m

By The Coastal Reporter

10 September 2026 · 1 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.

Troubled Ndlambe Misses Revenue Target As Debtors Top R300m

Port Alfred, the capital of Ndlambe Local Municipality. Source: Internet

The local municipality ended the 2025/26 year with revenue 10% below budget, cash reserves under pressure and more than R233m in debt older than 90 days.

The Ndlambe Local Municipality has ended the 2025/26 financial year R75 million short of its revenue target, with outstanding debtors rising above R301m and cash reserves declining, a report tabled before a special council meeting on July 29 2026 has revealed. The meeting was attended by councilors via Teams.

The report, covering the fourth-quarter between April and June 2026, records a year-to-date operational revenue of R656,880 million against a budget of R731,866 million, leaving the Port Alfred-based municipality 10% below target. The shortfall comes as councils across the Eastern Cape continue to face pressure to keep water, sanitation, roads and other basic services funded through their own collections.

The report also shows cash and cash equivalents fell to R51,812 million by the end of June, down from R64,828 million in the comparable quarter of 2025.

Outstanding debtors stood at R301,864 million, with R233,808 million of that amount older than 90 days. Long-outstanding debt makes it harder for municipalities to turn billed services into cash and can deepen pressure on day-to-day operations.

While total expenditure also came in below budget, the report flags strain in several areas, including unauthorized expenditure in some votes and underspending on capital projects.

Capital spending reached R182,101 million against a budget of R232,934 million, leaving a shortfall of R50,833 million, or 22%.

Contracted services were underspent by 35%, mainly because projects funded through Human Settlements grants for upgrading informal settlements were halted after expected funding did not arrive.

Ndlambe Local Municipality was given an opportunity to respond and to outline steps to improve revenue collection and recover long-outstanding debt. No response had been received by the time of publication. This story will be updated with their comment as soon as they respond.

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