Threats of a rates boycott are growing following more prolonged outages in Salt Rock and surrounds last week.

A resident’s call to withhold rates from March has been widely shared on social media, as has a pre-written letter format to register complaints with the KwaDukuza municipality (KDM).

Both indicate the level of frustration for furious residents in Salt Rock, Sheffield, Shaka’s Head and surrounds, who have been among the worst affected during the ongoing power crisis on KwaDukuza’s southern grid.

A 36-hour outage last week came after a 75-hour outage three weeks ago, while shorter supply issues have occured almost daily. Across the southern grid, outages have hit on at least 53 of the 66 days since December 1 (including every day this year until February 4).

Last weekend’s brief loadshedding return offered another cruel twist of fate, while planned tree trimming and electrical maintenance in Ward 22 saw nine more hours without power on Tuesday.

To top it all off, a 12.7% electricity tariff hike – one-third of what the utility had asked for – will be implemented by Eskom from April 1, which should reflect on individual municipal bills from July 1.

As individual households weigh up whether to withhold rates next month, the Dolphin Coast Residents and Ratepayers Association (Docrra) is warning against it.

“Docrra has not ignored rates boycotts as an option altogether, but there is a substantial legal process that has to happen before it can be done properly,” said Docrra chairman, Deon Viljoen.

“We will not support any boycott that has been illegally embarked on.”

In a similar case in Durban in 2023, the Westville Ratepayers Association lost a legal bid against the eThekwini Metro after leading a rates boycott. The ratepayers who withheld payments were liable for their full rates complement, as well as penalties and reconnection fees. That aside from the legal costs of the court case.

However, a beach safety rates boycott threat successfully led to stricter by-law enforcement in Ballito in 2020.

Meanwhile, Docrra, local civic bodies, the iLembe Chamber, and opposition parties are pushing for urgent interventions. A meeting with the Department of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has been scheduled, while feedback from Nersa is awaited.

iLembe Chamber CEO, Cobus Oelofse, said the KDM Southern Network task team is prioritising network stability ahead of the Easter holiday tourist influx. This requires reviewing infrastructure assessments, identifying urgent fixes, and pushing for budget allocations to address problem areas.

KDM had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

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