Cllr Herman Mashaba Executive Mayor City of Joburg
In the Council meeting of 30 March, we tabled the proposed tariffs for the 2017/18 financial year for public consultation.
It must be stated from the outset that we have done everything in our power to keep the tariff increases to a bare minimum while ensuring we maintain the City’s financial sustainability.
During this process we have had to carefully balance the cost implications of service delivery incurred by the City with the affordability of services, promotion of access to services for all our residents, and cross-subsidisation of the poor; while at the same time maintaining the City’s competitiveness when comparing our tariffs to other metros.
The table below depicts the tariff increases for the coming financial year.
| City of Johannesburg | 2017-18
Average Tariff Increases |
| Water and Sanitation | 12.2% |
| Electricity | 2.28% |
| Refuse Removal | 6.1% |
| Property Rates | 6.2% |
It is the trend across our country’s metros to no longer provide free basic water to all residents, but only to registered indigent residents which is in line with the National Water Policy and recommendation from National Treasury.
Given the scarcity of water in Johannesburg, the huge inequality in our city, and the massive infrastructure and service delivery backlog we believe it is in the best interests of our residents to follow this national trend.
Therefore, from the 2017/18 financial year, only indigent households registered on the City’s Expanded Social Package Programme will receive a free basic water allocation of between 10kl and 15kl per month, depending on their score on the prevailing COJ Poverty Index. Domestic users who do not qualify as indigents will see a modest increase of R42.84 per month to their water bill as a result of this change.
It is believed that this will result in the City being able to generate an estimated R320 million more in revenue on an annual basis which will be ploughed back into our communities for better service delivery and infrastructure.
This City is plagued by deep rooted inequality and it is for this reason that we have taken this decision.
There is a great deal that we can do with an additional R320 million in revenue. It could be used to build an additional 2597 housing units, or electrify an additional 70 informal settlements, or it can be used to extend operating hours at an additional 61 clinics.
The new administration is unapologetically pro-poor and this is an essential step to ensure that we protect the poorest residents in our city while ensuring that we increase revenue to speed up service delivery and improve infrastructure in our City. We are currently sitting with an estimated R170 billion infrastructure backlog.
I understand and sympathise with our residents who are frustrated from years of poor services and it is essential that we improve the quality of water, electricity, sanitation and refuse services in our city.
We are also steadfast in our fight against corruption and we will ensure that public money is not stolen by self-serving individuals but rather ploughed back into our communities.
The new administration is committed to bringing about the quality services that has been demanded by our residents and which they rightly deserve. This will be a major focus of our 2017/18 budget.