On the second day of its week-long oversight programme in Inxuba (Cradock) in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality, the Select Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Mineral Resources yesterday engaged with stakeholders on a wide range of socio-economic issues. The stakeholders included organised business, community development workers and agricultural stakeholders.
The committee, which arrived in Cradock on Monday, is visiting Cradock and the municipality as a whole in response to longstanding and severe local governance challenges that have resulted in environmental and health risks, and negative economic impacts. The challenges include intermittent water supplies, poor water quality, sewage spillages in the town and into the Great Fish River, use of the municipal pound and nesting egrets, which pose health risks to residents.
The Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality distributes electricity to Cradock and the surrounding neighbourhoods, while Eskom supplies electricity directly to the Lingelihle informal settlement. The key responsibilities of the municipality include the bulk purchase of electricity from Eskom, as well as the distribution and administration of prepaid electricity to consumers within its area of jurisdiction.
However, the municipality’s liabilities exceed its assets by nearly R500 million. Most of its debt relates to money owed to Eskom. A court order is currently compelling Eskom to continue supplying electricity to customers in the municipality.
The challenges with the supply of electricity in the municipality, particularly in Cradock, have had a significant knock-on effect on the environment, particularly water quality and availability. Reduced pumping hours for water treatment and distribution have resulted in several areas being left without drinking water for days, while sewage spills into the Great Fish River.
The committee, which arrived on Monday in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality, began its week-long oversight programme with an engagement with the municipality. It was represented by the Executive Mayor, Ms Noncedo Zonke, who welcomed the committee and led briefings that included an account of the longstanding Eskom debt issue.
The municipality owes Eskom just under R1 billion, or R930 million. The debt has been growing for many years. The first settlement instruction came in 2020, when the combined debt of the Cradock and Middelburg municipalities was R128 million. Cradock was then instructed to pay R300 000 per month. In May 2025, the municipality signed a formal co-operation agreement with Eskom to repay the growing debt at R500 000 per month.
However, this arrangement fell apart. Since the two agreements and subsequent court orders, there has been no formal repayment arrangement. Eskom has rejected other offers made by the municipality because of its history of defaulting on agreements.
According to the Executive Mayor, the current agreement requires the municipality to pay its current account of R10 million per month, which is unaffordable. The Executive Mayor said the municipality had requested that it be allowed to pay R5 million per month, but Eskom declined the request. “About 80% of the current account is interest on the debt and other bank charges. Consumption is only 20%,” she said.
During yesterday’s engagement with stakeholders and community development workers, the committee received a different picture from the one presented by the municipality and ward councillors the previous day. Stakeholders told the committee about crumbling infrastructure and stray animals that pose a serious risk to the lives of South Africans using the national roads that connect Inxuba with other economic centres in the province.
They also raised concerns about sewage spillages, which, according to some stakeholders, have become so commonplace in Cradock that children play in the sewage in the streets.
Farmers told the committee about their persistent calls for the municipality to maximise the use of the municipal pound to deal with the large number of free-roaming livestock. They also raised concerns about the need for effective biosecurity measures to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
The committee also visited the Rocklands Abattoir, a youth correctional facility and health centres.
Mava Lukani
26 August 2026
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