Cape Town – Civil action group StopCoCT has criticised the move by the City to increase tariffs at a time when people are struggling to make ends meet.
The City increased rates by 4%; electricity by 4.8%; water and sanitation by 4.5%; and refuse removal by 3.5% as of July 1.
New property categories were also implemented to enable lower or no rates to be charged for non-profit organisations and other charitable property owners, including organisations offering shelter for street people, early childhood development and youth development.
The City’s chief financial officer, Kevin Jacoby, said: “The City is dependent on the income from rates and services to fund the delivery of water, sanitation, electricity, clinics, traffic lights and fire service, among others.
“The City would have preferred to have no rates and tariff increases this year because of the Covid-19 economic impact on the people of Cape Town, but as it is, the cost of providing services outpaces the income we get from rates and tariffs.”
Stop CoCt founder Sandra Dickson said the City could have frozen tariff increases for at least this financial year.
“Stop CoCT received many complaints from the public who applied for relief from the City on their municipal bill. These complaints centre around residents sending emails and calls for assistance from the City on the email and SMS lines provided.
"Many get no reply from the City. Those that do are interrogated and find it very difficult to qualify for this assistance as the City requires heaps of paperwork and affidavits,” she said.
She said the City offered no additional support to cash-strapped pensioners.
“The R3.3 billion the City mentions as relief is the total annual expenditure on basic services for non-ratepayers. This is not a new amount set aside for Covid-19 relief for the struggling working class,” she said.