BUDGET SPEECH: Dig deep into your pocket to pay for hike in tariffs

Making the announcement, Makwakwa thanked the many individual and business account holders who realise the important factor of paying for services, as it enables the metro to continue to do what is expected of them.

Makwakwa said that, in their efforts to fulfil their core mandate of providing basic services, the city proposed the following tariffs:

q Assessment rates will increase by 7.5 per cent. This, he said, is lower than the average rate increase of other metros, of 8.1 per cent.

q Based on the Nersa approval, Makwakwa said the electricity tariff will increase by between 7.64 per cent and 9.4 per cent, depending on the consumption level.

Other increases are:

• Water tariff will increase by 9 per cent;

• Sanitation will increase by 9 per cent;

• Refuse removal goes up by 8 per cent, for both business and residential; and

• there is a zero per cent increase in cemetery fees for Ekurhuleni residents, but 10 per cent for outsiders.

“Having listened to our people’s cries about the rate of night vigil tariffs for traditional churches and non-profit organisations, we have reduced the tariff from R900 to R450 per hour,” he said.

Makwakwa said key to note is that there will be no increase for the following services:

• Library and information services;

• Use of arts, culture and heritage facilities;

• Sport and recreational facilities.

He said that the 2015 independent report by the South Africa Cities Network, in respect of Cities State Finances, states that Ekurhuleni’s comparative cost of services packages was the lowest, and that the city is the cheapest for Type A municipalities in the country.