Durban - Ratepayers in the Msunduzi Municipality can expect an increase in their municipal bills this year.
Tariffs for water, electricity and refuse collection are all set to rise according to the new draft tariff policy. Tariffs will increase by 5.35% across the board.
The council published the draft tariff policy last week for public comment. Tariff increases will take effect in July this year.
The new tariffs are almost half of what was initially proposed by the council. The municipal finance department had proposed an increase of 10%.
There are concerns that the increases, cumulatively for all the services, could put a severe strain on consumers who have either lost their jobs, are on short time or have not received a salary increase from their jobs.
DA councillor Sibongiseni Majola said when the finance department initially proposed an increase of 10% for water, electricity, sewage and other services, the party had to question whether the proposal was in line with the recommendation by the national Treasury that all tariff increases be in line with inflation.
He said the ANC councillors then recommended that instead of 10%, the tariffs should increase by 5.35%.
“We are concerned as these figures were thumb-sucked and they are being taken to the public without any clear understanding of how the council had arrived at such figures.
“While we do not want to risk a situation where the municipality could be compromised, we still feel the municipality has a responsibility to protect its residents,” said Majola.
Majola said one of the reasons given for the increases was that Eskom would be increasing its own tariffs.
“There are material losses in these key services that are brought on by theft and leaks, we need to stop those losses and we could use what we save from there to protect our customers.”
The Msunduzi Ratepayers’ Organisation said when it was last informed about the tariffs, the increases were projected at around 10%.
“We have not heard anything since from the council and we do not know whether they have approved but we would need to discuss it before we can talk.”
Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said he was comfortable with the proposed tariff increases and believed they were within the range of affordability for the ratepayers.
He said the city had to be mindful that many consumers were struggling.
“There was talk the City planned to increase the tariffs by 10%, that is not the case. That was just a proposal that was brought to us by officials.
“We have directed our officials to conduct an analysis to determine whether these services are cost reflective, meaning do we charge what it is costing us to produce them,” he said.
The Mercury