Rates revolt in Durban
EThekwini residents may withhold rate payments at the end of July as they take matters into their own hands over high municipal tariffs.
Municipalities tabled their budget proposals earlier this year, laying out their plans for tariff increases for residents – including property rates, electricity, water, sanitation, and refuse removal.
Many municipal mayors said that the reason behind the tariff increases was the above-inflation increases in electricity from Eskom, the water board and salaries – making it inevitable that rates would spike.
The revised rates came into effect on 1 July 2023; however, some residents in South Africa stepped into deeper waters than others, with eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality implementing the steepest increases.
EThekwini drafted massive increases compared to other major metros. It originally tabled a whopping 21.91% electricity tariff increase – 3.32% higher than Eskom’s 18.49% municipal hike – while its water tariff is set to increase by a notable 14.9%.
This caused outrage among its residents, which led to eThekwini revising its hikes as follows:
- Electricity tariff hike reduced from 21.9% to 18.49%;
- Sanitation tariff hike reduced from 11.9% to 10.9%;
- Rates tariff hike reduced from 8.9% to 7.9%;
- Refuse tariff hike reduced from 8.0% to 6.9%.
However, despite the revision, these hikes are still steeper than notable metros such as the City of Cape Town and Johannesburg – and residents say they are not paying these increases.
Chairperson of Westville Ratepayers’ Association, Asad Gaffar, said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika that the association had declared a dispute under the Municipal Act, and once this is declared, the municipality leaders have an obligation to engage with them.
Gaffar said that a critical process to be followed before any municipal budget is approved is to have public participation.
“The local government must listen to the people, must hear their concerns, and you must take the socio-economic conditions into account. However, none of these things have taken place,” he said.
Gaffar noted, however, that if there were an actual need for more revenue collection within the budget, residents would have no issue, but the real problem is the wasteful way in which the money is spent in the municipality after it’s collected.
He said that the local government has completely ignored the people of Durban, and they are in contravention of municipal law.
Gaffar also said that residents are within their rights to withhold their rates until the dispute is resolved, and they have no problem if the municipality wants to take this matter to court.
While some may fear the municipality could simply cut them off from things such as water and electricity, Gaffar noted that once a dispute is made, the municipality cannot implement any credit control policies until a resolution is reached.
He added that the association does, however, expect that they might try to disconnect residents, and if this is the case, they will go to court without hesitation.
Gaffar said that these hikes are unreasonable and tone-deaf amid the current economic climate and high cost of living, and residents simply cannot afford these increases – especially low-income households.
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