Johannesburg - From the end of this month (July) Joburg residents are facing huge tariff increases, well above inflation rates with electricity up by 13% and water by 9.9 %. Tariffs for property rates and refuse removal remain at 5.5% and 7% respectively.
Member of the mayoral committee for finance, Funzela Ngobeni said during the 2019/2020 budget speech that the city had been forced to increase the cost of electricity and water as these were supplied by Eskom and Rand Water which dictate prices.
“This budget is the culmination of hundreds of hours of administrative fiscal modelling and priority setting which demonstrates the balancing act of service provision in a climate where our resource costs continue to escalate. We have worked diligently to ensure that the budget is credible and sustainable," he said.
Real GDP growth in 2019 is expected to reach 1.5 % – improving moderately to 2.1 % in 2021, a far cry from city mayor Herman Mashaba’s promise of 5% growth.
Ngobeni said the city had made promises last year which had been delivered.
"It is important to take stock. We promised to improve the lives of our poor. We did this when we delivered, among other things, 4 000 site-and-serviced stands and 6 261 mixed-income housing units – and electrified 2 600 households in our informal settlements."
The city, to promote the economy has also opened opportunity centres in Roodepoort, Diepsloot and Orange Farm – and are on the verge of launching a new opportunity seekers database which will connect job-seeking residents to work opportunities," he added.