ActionSA has formally opposed the proposed eThekwini budget and raised serious concerns regarding the decision to release it for public participation in its current form.
The party maintains that the budget, as presented, is neither realistic, affordable, nor credible, and should not be taken to the public until significant corrections are made.
The proposed budget includes tariff increases well above the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) of approximately 3%, including electricity at 10.5%, water at 15% for domestic users and 16% for business, sanitation at 13% and 14%, refuse at 13%, and property rates at 5%, with significantly higher real impacts due to valuation increases.
In addition, the introduction of a fixed water loss charge will further burden residents by requiring them to pay for municipal inefficiencies, with non-revenue water losses exceeding 60%.
ActionSA notes that the budget is built on a system that is already failing, with operational performance at approximately 33% and financial performance at around 40%. Residents continue to experience ongoing service delivery failures, including water outages, sewer spills, and infrastructure breakdowns, while billing remains inaccurate and unreliable.
The budget further fails to adequately protect vulnerable residents. Senior citizen rebate thresholds remain unchanged at R2.5 million, despite rising property values, effectively excluding many pensioners from relief. Similarly, indigent thresholds remain outdated at an income level of R7,000 per month and a property value threshold of R750,000, excluding many households in need.
ActionSA also raises concern that sending the budget out in its current form creates a false impression of consultation, while placing the burden on residents to respond to proposals that are already unrealistic and unaffordable. Public participation, in this context, risks becoming a procedural exercise rather than meaningful engagement.
This budget places increasing pressure on compliant, rate-paying residents and businesses, while the underlying issues of inefficiency, infrastructure failure, and poor financial management remain unaddressed.
ActionSA Rejects Proposed Medium-Term eThekwini Budget and Its Release for Public Participation in Its Current Form
ActionSA has formally opposed the proposed eThekwini budget and raised serious concerns regarding the decision to release it for public participation in its current form.
The party maintains that the budget, as presented, is neither realistic, affordable, nor credible, and should not be taken to the public until significant corrections are made.
The proposed budget includes tariff increases well above the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) of approximately 3%, including electricity at 10.5%, water at 15% for domestic users and 16% for business, sanitation at 13% and 14%, refuse at 13%, and property rates at 5%, with significantly higher real impacts due to valuation increases.
In addition, the introduction of a fixed water loss charge will further burden residents by requiring them to pay for municipal inefficiencies, with non-revenue water losses exceeding 60%.
ActionSA notes that the budget is built on a system that is already failing, with operational performance at approximately 33% and financial performance at around 40%. Residents continue to experience ongoing service delivery failures, including water outages, sewer spills, and infrastructure breakdowns, while billing remains inaccurate and unreliable.
The budget further fails to adequately protect vulnerable residents. Senior citizen rebate thresholds remain unchanged at R2.5 million, despite rising property values, effectively excluding many pensioners from relief. Similarly, indigent thresholds remain outdated at an income level of R7,000 per month and a property value threshold of R750,000, excluding many households in need.
ActionSA also raises concern that sending the budget out in its current form creates a false impression of consultation, while placing the burden on residents to respond to proposals that are already unrealistic and unaffordable. Public participation, in this context, risks becoming a procedural exercise rather than meaningful engagement.
This budget places increasing pressure on compliant, rate-paying residents and businesses, while the underlying issues of inefficiency, infrastructure failure, and poor financial management remain unaddressed.