Ratepayers appear in court with urgent application

THE Westville Ratepayers’ Association appeared at the Durban High Court on Friday, September 8. This was announced by the association in a media statement saying they appeared with an urgent application to reconnect some households and to prevent further disconnections of participants in their protest campaign. 

Also read: Ratepayers embark on court journey

The protest campaign is the result of the ongoing dispute against the tariff hike that was initiated in July. This dispute has led to the ratepayers boycotting paying rates. The ratepayers had recently announced their application for a court interdict that will prevent the municipality from disconnecting the protestors – the case was set to be heard on November 1. 

In the urgent application that saw the ratepayers appear in court earlier than the set date, they reported that the relief for reconnections was set aside until Thursday.

“However, we are encouraged that the judge recognised that the merits of our case deserve an appropriate and urgent opportunity to be fully ventilated,” they stated. 

Also read: City refutes rumours of court interdict in ratepayers’ battle

The ratepayers expressed how impressed they were by the results of their court appearance. 

“Despite the judge not being prepared to issue a reconnection notice, the net result of today’s court hearing is that our matter has been brought forward by six weeks from November 1 to September 14.

“This is indeed a victory; this means that the period within which the City can implement more disconnections has shrunk,” they said. 

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