Truth will come out on new tariffs
I REFER to the letter from Councillor Van der Merwe in the August 11 edition.
He speaks of “some gross inaccuracies”. Well, that phrase also covers Van der Merwe’s assertions. He refers to “electricity tariffs and rates” and says “the great majority of increases have been well within the inflation range”, which is 5-6% in recent times.
By sleight of hand, he attempts to avoid some unfortunate truths. For example, tens of thousands of Cape Town residents previously on the lifeline tariff were changed (no option) by the City to the domestic tariff.
The effect of being moved from the one tariff to another was an effective increase of about 60% in the cost of unchanged electricity consumption.
The fact that tariffs may have increased in line with inflation is irrelevant to those who were moved from one tariff to another. By changing the applicable tariff, and introducing new tariffs, the truth is concealed; but the truth will come out.
There are other examples. The compulsory change in applicable tariff directly affected me. The City has also imposed an increase of about 60% in municipal property rates. This was not done by increasing the basic rate, but by increasing the valuation of the property. More subterfuge by the City.
I am 78, how does the City think I can deal with such increases? The City does not care. I will vote “with my feet” in the next election. JR GARNER Newlands