Protesters marched to East London City Hall on Wednesday, demanding that the Buffalo City mayor withdraw a recent electricity maintenance fee. Photo: Johnnie Isaac
About 200 people from 50 wards of Buffalo City Metro marched to the municipality's offices to protest against the introduction of a maintenance fee. The new tariffs, which began last week, have led to a 12% electricity tariff hike and a monthly maintenance network surcharge between R376 and R760. Many ratepayers argue that these new tariffs are unaffordable and place more financial strain on poor and working-class households. Protesters handed over a memorandum of grievances and a petition to Mayor Princess Faku.
March organizer Leonard Ncumbese said that municipal officials often refused to provide residents with detailed breakdowns of their bills, leaving consumers in the dark about how they accrued large debts. Social housing provider Own Haven Housing Association stated that the additional service fee was detrimental to non-profit organizations providing affordable rentals for low-income earners, as they would need to pay an additional R500,000 a month due to the lack of special tariff provisions for social housing in Buffalo City.
DA councillor Sue Bentley has written to Eastern Cape Finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko, through DA Shadow Finance MEC Dr Macom Figg, to express her concerns about the lack of public participation in the budget process. Jerome Mdyolo, the Eastern Cape leader of Al Jama-ah, accused the metro of violating the Municipal Financial Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act, which mandate citizen consultation before the council passes the budget. Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said that the metro is conducting roadshows and visiting wards to explain the new tariffs while assisting individuals and businesses.
Republished from Groundup. Original article written By Johnnie Isaac
