Legal action threatened over ‘astronomical’ tariff hike

THE Westville Ratepayers Association (WRA) and Bluff Residents’ and Ratepayers’(BRRA) Association has called for a meeting with the eThekwini Municipality, represented by all the decision-makers within the City in regard to the proposed tariff increase for the 2023/2024 financial year. The association stated that they reject the increase and are willing to approach a court to seek remedy and will also ask the court for a cost order against the municipality.

eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda proposed an electricity tariff increase of 21.91% for businesses and households from July. Kaunda said the increase was subject to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s approval and open for public comment. The report will be back in council at the end of May for final approval.
Collaborating with the Bluff Ratepayers’ Association, the WRA penned a letter to the mayor, City manager, speaker of council, eThekwini CFO, legal department and councillors of Westville.

Also read: Westville Ratepayers’ Association to host community leadership engagement meeting

The Associations objected to the proposed tariff increase, saying they were not given enough time to make comments. “The draft budget was issued around the middle of April, with a deadline set for the end of April. This is, in our view, not sufficient time for us, or any ratepayer, to adequately and thoroughly scrutinise the budget and the reasons provided for the astronomical increase in the tariffs, considering ratepayers may not have sufficient knowledge in reading financial budgets,” he said.

The associations further stated that there was not enough awareness of the public meeting opened for comment.
“The WRA and BRRA acknowledge that the City did indeed embark on a public participation process, which occurred on Friday, May 5 at eThekwini Community Church, which is on 163 Anton Lembede Street in the City Centre, yet we submit that the process followed, to date, was merely a checkbox exercise with no intention of considering the concerns raised by the ratepayers. This submission is evidenced by the poor communication advertising the event. We only became aware of this through a community WhatsApp group on May 2.

“We had not seen any other official public notice of a public meeting, and neither was there any public meeting that took place in Westville. We acknowledge that an IDP meeting was held in Austerville and that the BRRA attended the same. We note that several objections were raised at this event, and the community was visibly distraught at the proposal of the astronomical tariff hikes. While the speaker and mayor allowed the community to read the letter.”

Also read: Westville Ratepayers’ Association in pursuit of what belongs to them

They raised concerns with the increase, saying it is an additional amount of R12b.
“In an already struggling economic environment, this may further exacerbate unemployment and further degradation of our city.”
They appealed to the City to do their part. “The participatory process in drafting this budget must include input from ratepayers, who are the financial contributors to this budget. The engagement process between the City and the community is a two-way process and not a tickbox exercise. We hear the City, and the City hears us. We must find common ground that is both beneficial to the City and the community.”

They stated that the letter serves to give notice of their request for a meeting with the City.
“We hereby notify the City to afford the Ratepayers a platform to fully engage and discuss this draft proposal, which will require the express intention by the City to consider the objections raised by the ratepayers.”

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