DURBAN - UMGUNGUNDLOVU District Municipality has come under fire for proposing steep tariff increases for water.
The municipality has proposed a 33% tariff hike for the six municipalities it supplies: uMngeni (Howick), uMshwathi (Wartburg), Impendle, Mpofana (Mooi River), Mkhambathini (Camperdown) and Richmond.
The proposal was made at a council meeting on Tuesday and it is now out for public comment until the end of May.
Councillors said the increase would be unaffordable for many residents who were already struggling because of the Covid-19 impact.
The municipality argued that the proposed increase was not out of greediness, but because of the need to recover the costs associated with the supply of water.
DA councillor Hazel Lake said they were opposed to the proposal.
“This ridiculous increase at this particular time, when people are suffering the economic consequences of Covid-19 and the July unrest, is nothing other than insensitive to residents.
“It is also a desperate attempt to increase revenue to cover gross inefficiencies,” she said.
Lake said there were glaring failures in the municipality. The pipes in some areas such as Howick West burst frequently and needed to be replaced, but no funds were available.
“This, while there is R1.2 billion in uncollected debts, growing monthly due to a 38% collection rate. They delegate their failures to residents year on year. That is financial abuse.
“The municipality should instead focus on doing the following: get the billing department right; ensure accurate bills are received; and any queries resolved fairly,” she said.
“Many residents are already stretched beyond their incomes. This greedy extra tariff is a bridge too far and will lead to further collection failures and bad debts. The municipality needs to get its house in order. It is currently surviving on grant funding. Between that and burdening residents, there seems to be no desire to manage the municipality efficiently. This will only lead to a collapse,” she said.
IFP councillor Lionel Pienaar said they were disappointed by the proposed increase.
“Just a week ago we were told in the executive committee meeting that the increase would be around 10%. We objected, saying people were already struggling. We were disappointed with this 33% increase. They said the council had done studies and wanted cost-reflective tariffs,” he said.
Municipal spokesperson Brian Zuma said the tariff increase was a proposal. He said the costs went beyond just buying water from Umgeni Water, but included other expenses such as overtime pay when there was an outage. He said the municipality was also faced with water losses as a result of ageing infrastructure, theft and non-payment.
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