KwaDukuza residents brace for tariff hike come July 1
Tariff increases were lower across the board than in 2023/24 which saw increases of 6.5%, 9.5% and 15.1% respectively.
KwaDukuza residents will need to stretch their budgets further to accommodate municipal tariff increases of between 5% to 10.5% for the next financial year.
The increases went unchanged after first being published with the municipal draft budget in March and were confirmed when the final 2024/25 budget passed in council last week.
From July 1, residents will see their property rates increase by 5%, refuse rates increase by 7% and electricity rates increase by 10.5%. Commercial refuse rates will increase by 9%.
Tariff increases were lower across the board than in 2023/24 which saw increases of 6.5%, 9.5% and 15.1% respectively.
In their representations on the draft budget, both the Dolphin Coast Residents and Ratepayers Association and iLembe Chamber of Commerce flagged the 10.5% electricity increase.
The national energy regulator suggested an increase of 12.7% and the groups are concerned as to where the shortfall will be made up in the budget and how cross-subsidies will be funded.
In what was termed the ‘State of the Municipality Address’, mayor Lindile Nhaca outlined some upcoming municipal projects in the next budget cycle.
She confirmed that the long promised SCADA system, which remotely controls the electrical grid to make repairs easier, will be handed over at the end of June.
“After the handover, staff members will be trained for a period of three to six months on how to use the SCADA system. It is anticipated that the system will go live during the second quarter of the next financial year,” she said.
Elsewhere, R17.7-million has been allocated to construct a formal taxi rank in KwaDukuza, while R6.5-million has been set aside for ablution facilities and upgrades at the Ballito taxi rank.
It is unclear why the R8.92-million that was allocated for shelters at the ranks during the mid-year adjustment budget in December never materialised.
Given the timing of the adjustment, the funds would have had to be used by the end of the current financial year, which ends in June.
In a similar vein, it is unclear how much of the R1.2-billion in flood funding has been spent and how much may lapse if another rollover request to Treasury is not approved.
The funding also had to be spent by the end of June as per the rollover agreement after KDM was unable to meet the initial deadline.
KDM did not respond to questions on the matter.
As for tourism related news, mayor Nhaca confirmed municipal funding support for four major events.
The Ballito Pro will receive R10-million and the Blythedale Beach Festival R600 000, while figures for the 100% Homebrew and Chief Albert Luthuli Walk events were not mentioned.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA rejected the overall budget as delivered.
“Let us consider the real state of the municipality. Is it the fairytale that has been put forward to us or is it the lived reality we actually face?” said DA caucus leader, Tammy Colley.
“Our population has consistently increased and yet we see no more schools and no more hospitals, while every project that does happen has some controversy surrounding it.”
“So many people have given up on receiving houses that they invade land instead. Residents are left constrained.”
ActionSA PR councillor Sipho Zungu flagged the tariff increases.
“While they may look reasonable, they must be seen in conjunction with the 9.5% increase for water and sewerage from the iLembe Municipality,” he said.
“If electricity losses were cut in half to meet national averages, tariff increases could be avoided entirely.”
The overall budget for 2024/25 is R2.71-billion with capital expenditure of R328-million, subject to the flood funding rollover request.
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