Ethekwini residents will get some “room to breathe” when it comes to their electricity bills this financial year following the announcement of a below inflation increase.
While tabling her R45 billion budget last week, eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede said electricity would increase by almost 2%, below the inflation rate of 6%.
But opposition parties said living in Durban was still expensive and not attractive to investors, and some other services were above inflation.
The proposed tariff increase in rates is 6.9% on average, 1.88% for electricity, 15% for domestic water consumers, 17% for business water consumers, 9.9% for refuse removal and 9.9% for sanitation.
Deputy City Manager, Finance, Krish Kumar said yesterday: “There was a time when there were those 20 to 25% increases and over the past few years the increase has been in line with inflation.
“For the first time in a very long time we have managed to keep the increase for electricity below inflation and just around 2%. Someone who was paying around R400 a month on their bill, will be paying around R408.” he said.
Kumar said water was a challenge and the increase was necessitated by forces beyond their control. “That increase is far above inflation and we complained to the Umgeni Water Board.”
He said eThekwini was doing fairly well compared with other metros like Cape Town and Johannesburg.
“For our basket of services of water, electricity, refuse, rates and sewerage, consumers were paying an average of around R1 600.”
Addressing council last week, Gumede said: “Notwithstanding the current economic climate and the pressure in terms of a weakening currency, a growth rate of under 1%, growing unemployment, inflation over the 6% threshold as well as increasing food and fuel prices, we still managed to produce a basket of services with an overall increase of less than 6%. This is below inflation.”
Some increases, such as water, had been unavoidable.