Durban — The eThekwini Municipality has revised its tariff increases, after “listening to the concerns and outcry of already cash-strapped residents, who are struggling to make ends meet, as a result of the harsh economic conditions”.
This was revealed by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda during a council meeting on Wednesday. The changes to the proposed tariff increases would offer some relief to customers, he said.
Over the past few weeks, ratepayers associations marched to eThekwini against the tariff hikes.
Kaunda said: “From the initial 21.91% proposed increase, we have reviewed the tariff hikes, and decreased them by 3%, thus tabling a revised figure of 18.49%.
“With regards to water, the proposed 14.9% increase for residential customers and 15.9% for business remains unchanged, of which 5.5% is imposed by Umgeni Water, 3% is related to the construction of the essential Upper Umkomaas Dam, and repairs and maintenance which contributes around 4.3%, and security around 1%”.
Kaunda said the Upper Umkomaas Dam project would address the persistent water challenges in the city, as experts warned that if they don’t invest in the infrastructure, there would not be enough water for eThekwini in the near future.
Kaunda said the council invested R2.2 billion in electricity over the next three years, to be spent on extensions and reinforcements of existing networks as well as 17 new substations.
Water and sanitation were allocated a combined R5 billion budget over the next three years for the Ogunjini Waterworks, Mkhizwana Waterworks, Adams Water Reservoirs and Zwelibomvu Water Main Inlet Phase 2. The council would also install a booster pump to address KwaXimba, ward 1, water challenges.
Public transport infrastructure was allocated R805 million. A further R249 million was allocated for road rehabilitation and upgrades.
The mayor said the City would create 20 000 job opportunities, including EPWP programmes, and a further 6 000 through the presidential employment stimulus package.
“To increase police visibility for crime prevention and by-law enforcement, the municipality will be allocating R129.5m for the recruitment of 400 additional Metro Police. To reach the target of 5 000 members, the municipality will continue to recruit 400 metro officers per annum.”
Kaunda said the City has revised its budget for 2023/24 down to R65.5bn, made up of an operating budget of R57.4bn and a capital budget of R8.1bn.
DLC councillor Patrick Pillay said his party was not supporting the high tariff increases in the mayor’s budget and called for a zero tariff increase for rates, electricity and water that could be funded from the equitable share the City received annually from the National Treasury.
DA eThekwini councillor Yogis Govender said: “Although this victory is significant for residents, these tariffs are still unnecessarily high. All of these hikes are substantially above the inflation rate.
“Such a high tariff increase could have been avoided had the ANC-led government recovered the billions owed to it, removed water and electricity losses, which total nearly R3bn, and put a stop to corruption and theft.”
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