In a victory for residents of Saldanha Bay, the DA controlled municipality has backtracked on its decision to levy a R250 electricity surcharge.
Mayor Marius Koen said the town’s council unanimously accepted a recommendation made to suspend the connection charge of prepaid electricity consumers, backdated to July 1.
Koen said a special task team would be established to investigate the tariffs in detail for consideration in a workshop with the council.
“This will be followed by an extensive public-participation programme to consult with the community to determine the way forward.”
Koen said users with 30amp prepaid meters would be exempted from the surcharges. Those with 40amp meters would be charged R166 per month, while those with 60amp meters would pay R250.
On social media, residents expressed their anger on Koen’s Facebook page.
“Mr Koen, we will fight in the highest court of this land. Come December, we will not pay the municipality a cent extra this is not a threat, it’s a fact. And 2019 is an election year, you guys go ahead and try your luck, we are ready for you,” Jan Janse van Rensburg said.
Beon Bam posted: “Let’s all vote for the ANC, maybe things will become better. How can we have 7% increases, but our accounts increase with 23%. Petrol is at its most expensive, food is becoming expensive and now you want to exploit us too.”
Sammy Claasen, convenor of the Khoisan Defiance Campaign, said: “Great public pressure caused the Saldanha Bay Municipality to review its ridiculous decision. The horse buckled. The DA is a broken party that lost the plot.” Claasen said the reversal of the decision was a clear indication of a governing party in a state of confusion and not able to govern.
“It now blames the official for an official decision made by the DA. We call on the residents to place a vote of no confidence in the DA-led Saldanha Bay Municipality. The fact that the DA backtracked on its own decision is proof of its incompetence It wanted to rob the taxpayers.