The City of Cape Town has rejected claims by some residents that their water and electricity tariffs are unfairly high.
Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, Ian Neilson, says they are doing everything in their power to keep tariffs as affordable as possible.
“The city absolutely rejects any misinformation being spread by certain groupings about the city’s tariffs and rates, despite numerous efforts by the city to correct the misinformation. It is very clear if one actually looks at the data that the city’s tariffs are fair, as affordable as possible, and at a sustainable level to ensure the municipality is healthy and can carry on delivering services, paying Eskom for electricity bulk purchases and all other major input costs.”
Neilson says without the income from tariffs, the city will not be able to provide any services. He says because of Eskom’s price hike this year, they were forced to implement a 13.48 % increase from the first of July.
“Electricity is becoming an increasingly expensive commodity – of that, there is no doubt. It is only if Eskom has competition that we will see a real impact on household electricity prices. The city has done and continues to do, everything in its power to keep these prices in check as much as possible, in the most fair way possible. Reducing the price (or not increasing the price as much) for anyone customer category has a resultant knock-on effect elsewhere, for some other customer category, and these impacts must also be considered. The city has to help available indigent customers as well as those who have been severely affected by COVID-19 and the lockdowns. All applications are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.”
He adds that the city has absorbed more of the price hike than any other metro in South Africa where the average increases are 14.59%.
