Pensioner takes city to court

ADURBAN pensioner says the eThekwini Municipality acted in a high-handed manner when it cut off her electricity over her failure to pay a bill and charged her criminally for an “illegal development”.

Tulsee Govender, a 79-yearold widow who receives an oldage grant, approached the Durban High Court in an urgent application after her electricity was switched off last month when she failed to pay her utility bill.

Yesterday Judge Philip Nkosi confirmed an interim order, which had been granted last month, against the municipality in which it had been ordered to restore electricity to Govender’s Shallcross home.

The municipality did not oppose the application.

In papers before the court, Govender said at issue was an increase in the rates on her property which had led to her falling into arrears with her consolidated bill for rates, water and electricity.

She said her rates bill had risen from about R6 000 a year to R39 000 when the municipality had begun to charge her rates for an illegal development which she said had nothing to do with her.

The city had also charged her criminally in connection with the development and she had been summoned to appear in court, but the case had been withdrawn.

She said in her affidavit that she had no illegal structure on her property, but she believed the municipality was referring to an aviary that her son-in-law had built on adjacent vacant municipal land.

She said her son-in-law, through the ward councillor, had requested permission from the city to erect the aviary for love birds on the land and this had been approved.

She said last August, he had received a notice from the municipality that he had contravened the KwaZulu-Natal Planning and Development Act and should cease “illegal operations”.

She said her son-in-law was not in breach of any law, but if he was, it had nothing to do with her.

City officials had refused to consider her explanations even after the criminal case had been withdrawn.

“Despite the withdrawal of the charge and having no case against me in respect of the alleged illegal structure, the municipality continues to charge me interim rates. The increased rates are no doubt a penalty and are not based on any legitimate increase in the value of the property.”

“No such structure was built on my property and the municipality has unlawfully categorised my property as an illegal development.”

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