Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen, has called on all South Africans to join the party in its rolling mass action against the recent electricity tariff increases.
Steenhuisen slammed the latest electricity tariff hikes while campaigning at Northdale in Pietermaritzburg ahead of a by-election.
National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), the energy regulator, approved an 18.65% increase in electricity prices for 2023 and a 12.74% hike for 2024. Steenhuisen says the tariff hike will cripple the economy and badly affect the majority of citizens.
“Many South Africans are struggling to keep their heads above the water. This is going to push them below the surface and drive more people into poverty and unemployment,” he said.
The opposition leader then announced that his party will be undertaking mass action against the electricity tariff increases and has urged all South Africans to join them in so doing.
“So I am announcing today that we are embarking on a campaign of rolling mass action and I am calling on South Africans to taking to the streets to send a very clear message to government that we are not going to accept this increase. It’s not fair for South Africans to pay for the premium for corruption, maladministration and cadre deployment of the governing party,” declared Steenhuisen.
On Thurday, Steenhuisen sent a letter to the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, requesting an urgent meeting about Eskom and the country’s growing power crisis.
Video: John Steenhuisen requests urgent meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa on power crisis
DA has its on eyes Ward 28 and the entire municipality
The DA’s new candidate is Renisha Singh, and the party hopes to retain Ward 28, in Northdale and Bombay Heights – a ward they’ve held for six years. The other main contender for the ward is ANC candidate, Parusha Chetty.
Their ward councillor Lucky Naicker was dismissed last year after he was found guilty of sexual misconduct.
The party says they plan to take over the running of the Msunduzi Local Municipality which oversees the contested ward.
DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, the Provincial Leader, Francois Rodgers have arrived in Ward 28 of Msunduzi where they will be engaging with residents regarding service delivery, ahead of the 18 January 2023 by-election.#KeepYourWardDA#VoteDA pic.twitter.com/t8nqe9PfLR
— DA KZN (@DA_KZN) January 14, 2023
Msunduzi mayor says population is growing at faster rate than infrastructure can be upgraded
The ANC-led municipality which is under administration has been battling with water and electricity supply as well as crumbling infrastructure.
“We focus on cleaning up the administration and making sure that every cent of the money in the municipality is spent on serving the people and making sure to focus like a laser beam on getting the basics right,” the DA leader stated.
Mayor of the Msunduzi Local Municipality, Mzimkhulu Thebolla, admits that there are problems, and they say ageing infrastructure and a growing population have put a strain on service delivery.
“The fact is that the infrastructure of Msunduzi was made for few. With a growing city they [the infrastructure] are now stretched – that’s a fact that we must admit, hence we are saying we are repairing but we are also replacing at the same time,” explained the mayor.
