The Democratic Alliance (DA) will approach the Gqeberha High Court in the Eastern Cape to seek an urgent interdict to stop the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality from further implementing new electricity tariffs.
The DA says the tariffs are unconstitutional and the municipality’s adopted electricity tariff increase is based on a flawed public participation process.
Under the previous block tariff structure, the first 300 units were charged at a lower rate in a bid to provide affordability protection for lower-income households.
DA member of the Eastern Cape Legislature Retief Odendaal says removing the previous block tariff has increased the cost of electricity for many households by up to 30%.
“The consultation process was inadequate, with public meetings held over just three days, many during office hours, limiting meaningful public participation. We also believe that the municipality was fully aware that the scrapping of the inclining block tariffs and moving to a base cost would unduly prejudice certain categories of residents. The anticipated impact of this proposal was purposely and intentionally hidden from consumers and not disclosed during compulsory public participation processes.”
“Our legal challenge seeks to ensure that the municipality complies with its constitutional and legislative obligations when making decisions that affect the public,” adds Odendaal.
-Report by Nandipha Plaatjie
Source link
