Cape Town - The ANC is claiming victory in its lawsuit over exorbitant water tariffs against the city, which apparently conceded to its demands.
However, the city is refusing to agree that it will not cut the water supply of defaulting consumers, lawyers' letters show.
The ANC in the Western Cape filed a class action in the Western Cape High Court on behalf of four residents, Patrick Festus, Arthur Theys, Januel Hector and Lameez Souma, that seeks to have all water and sanitation tariffs increases set aside.
It also wants certain sections of the city’s Water Amendment by-law declared unconstitutional.
The ANC is also demanding that the city is interdicted from disconnecting the water supply of residents. This is part of section 2.1 of the ANC’s papers.
Although the city is yet to file papers, the ANC’s lawyers, Sam & Vepile Attorneys, said in a letter that additional documents were served on the city on September 12.
In a letter, Dan Sam said: “It is, therefore, our instruction to inform you that on September 14 we were contacted electronically via email by (a city official) advising he will be dealing with this matter on behalf of the city. We were advised the relief sought in section 2.1 of the notice of motion is extremely wide and at this point, the city is inclined to oppose that part of the relief of the application.”
He said that in a telephone conversation, the city official indicated that the city will not be opposing any other relief sought. “The city will be considering all four affidavits in order to formulate a view on the application.”
Sam said a Rule 16A notice at the High Court invites the public to apply to join the application as either friends of the court or additional applications.
ANC provincial elections head Ebrahim Rasool said the city is conceding to the fact that it has made mistakes. “This is the slightest of victory for the residents and the ANC. They are only opposing a certain section of the application where we want the city interdicted from disconnecting the water supply of residents. They want to give that assurance to the applicants, but this is not only about the applicants - it is about the whole of Cape Town,” Rasool said.
He said anyone with a water-related complaint can join the class action.
“This is for the whole of Cape Town. We are asking anyone who has massive bills to come to us and join our case. We know that ratepayers are handed over to credit bureaus and we are doing our best to prevent this.”
For weeks, deputy mayor Ian Nielsen said publicly that the city could not reduce the water tariffs because of the national government’s determination on the water restrictions, but announced this month that water restrictions and its associated tariffs will be lowered to level 5, bringing some relief to consumers.
City mayoral committee member for corporate services Raelene Arendse said the city’s legal services is deliberating on the full application pertaining to the four individuals.
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