Paying too much? Municipality explains how service levies are calculated
Whether you pay too much or too little for basic services such as electricity remains a subjective view, but the Polokwane Municipality this week sheds light on what contributes to the costs.
POLOKWANE – According to Polokwane Municipality Spokesperson, Thipa Selala, the municipality levies individual household and business accounts based on various services, and each has a due process and can be recalculated if required.
These services include water and electricity, of which both can be converted to prepaid; refuse, sewer services, and basic property assessment rates.
“Electricity gets more expensive if you buy units more than once in a month. If you only buy once, in bulk so to speak, the units are cheaper,” Selela explained.
Rates are as follows (until the end of June 2021):
• 0-50kWh: 102,82c/kWh.
• 51-350kWh: 134,23c/kWh.
• 351-600kWh: 198.16c/kWh
• All units more than 600kWh: 233,00c/kWh.
Read more: [TAKE NOTE] New tariffs to come into effect this July 2021
”Rate charges are based on the market value of the property and can be recalculated if necessary. Rate payers are engaged through the public participation process and individually as owners,” he said.
According to Selala, the municipality conducted outreach programmes in Seshego and other areas on request to resolve customer queries, and 98% of accounts that were presented were verified to be correct.
“The last Seshego outreach was on 12, 13 and 14 April and further outreach to verify individual accounts can be arranged,” he said. The municipality has a customer care service that deals with queries daily and customers are encouraged to provide their details. Households that cannot afford paying services are encouraged to apply to the municipality’s indigent programme, according to Selela.
He explained that Baatshuma has been appointed by the municipality to provide a credit control service to the municipality and is responsible to terminate services in line with the credit control policy, and debt collection as instructed by the municipality for accounts that are in arrears.
“Tariffs are approved by council annually through the budget and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) consultation process, and residents are always encouraged to participate in that process. The process provides residents a platform for input on the tariffs and tariff increases,” he said. He added that the municipality does not determine electricity tariffs.
“The tariff is approved by the energy regulator, National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and they recommend the tariff increase to the municipality, in fact, the municipality continues to absorb electricity cost by subsidising consumers since council approves a lower tariff increase from the one recommended by Nersa. The municipality has decreased its tariff structure for the 2021/22 financial year on all services excluding electricity, he stated.
“Compared to municipalities and cities of this size, the Polokwane Municipality remains one of the municipalities at national level with the lowest tariff structure.”
He remarked that electricity is an expensive commodity.
“It is time that households start to practice responsible consumption by using less electricity which will result in saving some money that they can use for other household requirements. Various resources on electricity conservation are available online. It is important for everyone who consumes services to pay for the services consumed. Failure to pay will result in the municipality not being able to pay its suppliers for the required services.”
