LIGHTS OUT E CAPE TARIFFS GO UP AGAIN
Property rates up Refuse removal up Water up
Buffalo City Metro
Today R100 buys 48 units of electricity
July 1 R100 buys 43.4 units
From July 1, Eastern Cape residents will be paying between R1.50 and R2.60 per unit of electricity.
What this boils down to is that a R100 electricity purchase will only get a domestic customer 43.4 units in metros like Buffalo City.
Currently, BCM residents get 48 units per R100.
This comes after three municipalities in the province shocked ratepayers this week by announcing a 13% electricity tariff increase from the beginning of next month.
Only last month Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati indicated electricity would increase by 8.39% every year in the 2019-2022 period. But on Wednesday he delivered a crippling blow to ratepayers when he revealed the increase would in fact be 13.07% a year in the same period.
What will come as an even greater shock to residents in the province is that in the City of Cape Town – a so-called “glamour” metro – the electricity hike has actually decreased from the one in the current financial year.
The city’s deputy mayor and finance portfolio head, Ian Neilson, told the Dispatch the electricity tariff would increase by 8.88% – reflecting a decrease of 2.82% from this year’s tariff.
Beacon Bay Ratepayers' and Civic Association chair Malcolm Symons is livid.
“One wonders what they are doing with the money because the central business district is in a messy condition,” he said.
“Southernwood and Belgravia areas are dirty. There are potholes everywhere. We are not happy with the current rates already, never mind what is coming our way. The city is a disaster,” Symons said.
But it is not only BCM residents who will have to fork out additional funds for power.
Nelson Mandela Bay spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki told the Dispatch on Friday that a 13.04% electricity hike was projected from July.
Mniki said for R100, residents could get up to 64.1 units.
Residents in King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality have not been spared either, with municipal spokesperson Monwabisi Mampoza confirming a 13% power hike.
Mthatha Ratepayers and Residents Association spokesperson Madyibi Ngxekana slammed the hike.
“There was no public participation for this. When we buy electricity for R100, we get 51 units. I they increase the tariff by 13%, we will obviously get less units,” he said.
“When our association, which has four councillors in that council opposes things, the ANC always bullies the opposition and say let us vote on matters because they know they have the numbers,” said Ngxekana.
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya confirmed prepaid domestic and small power users would pay R2.30 and R2.60 per unit in the next financial year.
On Wednesday, the BCM council approved the tariff increase despite the DA recording its dissent on the whole budget approval.
Turning to the impact on business, BorderKei Chamber of Business chairperson Les Holbrook said businesses were given a 30-day window period by BCM on Monday to object to the current tariff increases that were implemented last year.
“We are still trying to resolve the current tariff increases as there are outstanding issues there. The increases are above inflation but we don't want to object to the new ones when we have not even concluded the current matter,” he said.
“We will also deal with the electricity hike once we are done with this but we understand that the metro has too many electricity losses and so they are trying to recover the money by increasing the tariff. But we have been telling them to deal with the losses.”
Residents’ pockets will not only be hit by the electricity hike, however. These are increases for other services per metro: