DA rejects Ugu’s proposed tariff increase

The DA in Ugu District Municipality recently opposed the proposed 15% tariff increase in the 2024/25 municipal draft budget.

This was confirmed by the DA councillor in Ugu, Leonard Ngcobo, during a media briefing about Ugu’s water services in Margate about two weeks ago.

A member of the KZN Legislature, Edwin Baptie, said there is no transparency in the budget, which makes it hard for them to support the tariff increase.

Baptie said before understanding the proposed increase, it would be crucial to know:

* How much water Ugu produces itself, and at what cost?

* How much water does the municipality purchase from Umgeni, and at what cost?

* How much is lost to leakage or sent via tanker services?

* How much is spent on billed and unbilled customers, indigent households, and more?

“These facts are not found in the budget compilation, so how do you come to a tariff? This is part of the problem.

These fundamental facts are not available, there is no transparency around it. So, we do not know whether this tariff is justified or not. They say they have reasons, such as petrol and electricity prices going up. However, this is making things worse because if everything is going up, that means people are not going to be able to afford these suggested increases,” said Baptie.

Baptie said according to a report by the Human Rights Commission, municipalities in KZN are failing to provide the public with the basic right to water.

He added: “We are asking for more votes because many decisions in the municipalities and legislatures are taken by those with the majority of votes. Now, if you have one councillor who sits in the Executive Council and the council is filled with many corrupt councillors, they can vote for corruption, they can defeat you because you are alone or there are few,” said Baptie.

“We need all those in charge replaced by votes, not only in this region but provincially and nationally as well,” he said.

The briefing was attended by councillors Leon Garbade and George Henderson, who gave an overview of the water situation in Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.

Councillor Shara Singh spoke about the water situation in Umdoni Municipality, while Ngcobo highlighted the water situation in Umzumbe Municipality.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram