Electricity court case abandoned
The Plettenberg Bay Ratepayers' Association has abandoned one of its applications against Bitou Municipality in the Western Cape High Court.
Earlier this year the association turned to the court to interdict the municipality from implementing what the association had dubbed "unlawful electricity tariffs" against impoverished communities in Bitou.
The papers were filed on 25 March after public unrest earlier in the month over electricity woes. Some of the concerns related to claims that the municipality had been charging some residents double the electricity tariffs approved by the national regulator Nersa.
The association's chair, Peter Gaylard, explained that the municipality was short-changing those who had fallen into arrears by 50% on their electricity expenditure and offsetting that against other arrears service charges.
"Obviously, this practice makes people bitter, as it looks like cheating. No one who buys six eggs for cash expects the shop, without permission, to supply only three and put half the payment towards the reduction of the purchaser's arrears account.
Obviously, too, the practice causes hardship – we all know that electricity is essential for cooking, heating and lighting of residents, many of whom find it harder and harder to make ends meet. No surprise, then, that in March this year the residents took to the streets to protest about being short-changed in this way," Gaylard said.
This was also the reason they decided to turn to the court for relief. "After launching proceedings, we unearthed a by-law that actually gives the municipality permission to act as it does. Though the municipality did not rely on the by-law in their answering papers, it would be unfair and unethical to proceed as though the by-law does not exist."
It was for this reason that the association decided to terminate the litigation which was set to be heard in August this year.
"We still oppose this method of collection by the municipality and regard the principle to be unfair towards the poorest section of the community. We are therefore not abandoning the campaign, but will be pursuing it at a political level. We will also renew our efforts to monitor municipal expenditure to contain costs and ensure that limited municipal revenue is spent effectively."