Notwithstanding the difficult financial conditions that Ndlambe ratepayers and residents have experienced over the last year, the Ndlambe Council led by Mayor Khululwa-Ncamiso has implemented the following year-on-year rate and service fee increases for the 2024/25 financial year:

• Municipal rates up on average 15%
• Electricity up on average 13% (The Ndlambe council asked for 15.7% and was declined by NERSA)
• Water basic/availability fee up 11%
• Water usage fee up 11%
• Sewage basic/availability fee up 11%
• Sanitation/Pump-outs fee up 11%
• Refuse removal fee up 12%
• Environmental fee up 9%

Furthermore, Mayor Khululwa-Ncamiso has indicated she will increase some of these fees in the next years. The planned increases on top of an annual inflation adjustment are:

• Water basic/availability fee up 5% p/a for the next 5 years
• Sewage basic/availability fee up 5% p/a for the next 2 years
• Sanitation/Pump-outs fee up 5% p/a for the next 5 years

While these increases seem inconsistent with the principles of fiduciary responsibility, it is also noted that under the mayor’s oversight the Ndlambe Municipality has:

• In recent years billed for only 54.9% of water consumed
• Recorded R59,827 million of debt impairment in the 2022/23 financial year
• Approved the following write-offs in the council meeting of 28 June 2024:
  • Irregular expenditure in the amount of R244,088,444.67
  • Fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the amount of R11,957.78
  • Unauthorized expenditure in the amount of R84,000,358.02