Polokwane Muni tariff increases hit close to home

Residents share how they will be affected by these increases.

A local PhD candidate in economics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Baneng Naape, is of the view that the tariff increases by the Polokwane Municipality will hit certain residents harder than others considering the demographics of the municipality.

“The less you earn, the higher is the percentage of your income to be spent on water and electricity, as these are necessities. Everyone uses electricity, regardless of whether you are employed or not, whether you are the main provider at home or what you may be earning.”

The municipality released its tariff increases for the 2021/22 financial year which have taken effect from July 1 and the new tariffs see an increase of 14,59% for electricity, 8,5% for water services and 4,6% each for sanitation, waste removal and assessment rates. The municipality has cited the cost of bulk purchases as a contributing factor to the increase in tariffs.

Naape says in one way or another, residents will be impacted by the tariff increase with some residents directly feeling the financial pressure while others will only experience it indirectly. It is important to take the demographics of the area into consideration and from his findings that are based on a Statistics SA survey, 45% of households are women-headed with women being the main provider. The second consideration would have to be that the average annual income in the municipality is R4 500 and lastly, that around 36% of the people in the area are said to be unemployed, he said.

Naape says the municipality’s indigent will be beneficial to those who quality: the policy provides for households with an income of less than R4 480 to receive 60kl of water, 100kw of electricity, 100% subsidy on refuse removal and sewage charges along with a 100% rebate on assessment charges.

It also makes provision for an 80% rebate for households that depend on pension or social grants not amounting to more than R9 490. Naape has urged residents to spend the larger fraction of their salaries on essential items as it is unrealistic to try and cut down on the use of water and electricity especially during winter, and during lockdown “when people are expected to practice good hygiene”.

We asked residents about their electricity consumption patterns:

Ray Goulkan: I am not sure about the exact units but with R500 you used to get about 150 units which is already ridiculously high. I cannot imagine the financial pinch that the new tariffs will bring. We are already impoverished coupled with the level 4 lockdown and suddenly tariff increases. This is really a big slap in the faces of all who could not afford the previous rates and what about the increased tariff. We are doomed and slowly killed by our government
Local PhD candidate in economics, Baneng Naape says the increase in municipal tariffs for Polokwane residents comes at a tough time.
Pieter Engelbrecht: We have a clear slump in the power, but what is lost to me is that the more we save the more they push up the rates. It is going two steps forward and three backwards. Another thing I cannot understand, is that if you buy a R1 000 electricity, the first part is cheaper and the last part is more expensive than it should be, it’s like you’re saving in the beginning but the end takes more than what you saved in the beginning.
Michelle Needham: I Bought R 1700 worth of power last month and received 827 units.
This month after the increase R 1800 power bought and received 778 units.
It is getting very expensive now.
Idette Coetzee: We buy R1 000 worth of power per month. I buy any time after the 20th of the month and get 559.70Kwh every month. I will have to add 15 % end of July and buy R1 150 worth of power to get the same amount of units.
Felecia Nigrini: We bought R1 500 worth of electricity and only got 681 units. I think it’s really riduculous, everything is expensive. How do they expect us to come up with the money to buy everything? Petrol and diesel is already bad enough. We, at least have a solar system as well but we have to put it back up as we are completely off grid on the farm. Food is expensive, electricity is expensive, petrol is expensive, medical is expensive, so yes you take one step forward and three back in life in SA.
Makhanani Chabalala: I bought for R100 just to check and got 37 units. My heart nearly stopped. It’s absolute madness. I usually get double that – about 68 or so units
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