Photo: Eddie Mtsweni
Jobe Sithole
Residents of the City of Ekurhuleni will have to fork out more for their rates, according to City of Ekurhuleni’s MMC for Finance, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza during his 2019/20 Budget Speech on Thursday.
“This is as a result of poor economic performance,” said Xhakaza.
Property rates will see an increase of 7.5% and depending on the usage of electricity and consumption, residents will pay between 13.07 percent and 13.87 percent, he said.
Xhakaza said it was concerning that revenue from electricity tariffs had been underwhelming.
If the situation was not arrested, the City of Ekurhuleni would struggle to cross-subsidize the poor.
According to Xhakaza, water tariff increases would see a 15 percent increase. This was equal to that announced by Rand Water.
Hot on its heels would be the increase of sanitation tariffs, which will increase by 11 percent.
Xhakaza said this is informed by the cost of sewer purification processes undertaken by ERWAT.
Refuse removal tariffs will increase by 7.5 percent for all users, a move based on the increase of the main cost drivers of the service.
In the last five years, cemeteries and cremation had not seen an increase. However due to the cost of maintaining cemeteries there will be an increase of 5.2 percent for residents, and 5.4 percent for non-residents.
Residents will breathe a sigh of relief that there won’t be any tariff increase applied to four municipal services namely Library and information services, library auditorium, use of arts, culture and heritage facilities; and hire of parks and facilities.
Xhakaza said as much as the City of Ekurhuleni understood the financial situation of its residents, those who can afford to pay should do so.
“As much as we continue to cushion the effect on communities in as far as rates increases are concerned, it is imperative that our people are reminded that these tariffs are the backbone of our machinery to deliver quality and sustainable services”, said Xhakaza.
Those who were battling to pay for services were encouraged to register on the City of Ekurhuleni’s indigent assistance programme.
The pro-poor agenda, which the City of Ekurhuleni prides itself in, also took centre stage at the 2019/20 budget speech.
A better life for all was the main driver of this programme.
Xhakaza told a packed council chamber that the City of Ekurhuleni would shoulder the cost of R4-billion for the social package.
This was an increase of an increase of R300-million compared to the previous financial year.
The following package for indigent relief was announced at the budget.
- 100% rebate on assessment rates;
- Free refuse removal;
- First 100kWh of electricity per month is free. This is more than the provision made by national government policy and the City will bear the costs of the difference;
- First 9kl of water and sewer per month is free;
- Special rates on emergency services such as ambulance and fire-fighting; and
- Free indigent burial.
Xhakaza announced that over and above the 9kl of free water and sanitation to indigent households the City would continue to provide the first 6kl of the same services for free to all households with a property value of up to R750 000.
The MMC appealed to residents from poor households to not exceed their monthly allowance for free basic services.
“This results in Council subsidising the consumed minimum services as well as the additional allocations, meaning some people unduly benefit twice”, said Xhakaza.
A commitment made in 2018 by the City to boost the indigent policy programme had been given a much needed financial injection for those living below the bread line. There has been an increase in income threshold from R3 200 to R5 090 per household.
The City had also embarked on an aggressive indigent registration campaign. To date the City of Ekurhuleni has 112 000 registered indigent residents. Underpinning the City’s drive to offer free basic services was its commitment to limiting the humiliating effects of poverty on members of society.
Xhakaza added that the City of Ekurhuleni had to find innovative ways to link its social package to the procurement opportunities in the City.
To achieve this goal it had been proposed that companies seeking procurement opportunities in Ekurhuleni should demonstrate their commitment to fighting poverty through re-investing in community projects.
