If it’s not petrol that keeps on going up every month, then it’s groceries, etc. And now, the annual electricity tariff increase is a whopping 13.07% for Domestic and Commercial consumers, and 15.63% for Bulk.
Ladysmith resident Mrs Margaret Hurter commented on the increase by saying, “I buy my electricity on the 14th of every month. For the last year, I got 771.21 electricity units for R1300. On July 14, I only received 715.60 units for R1300, which is 55.51 units less. I use between 15 and 20 units per day. That means I received almost three days less electricity for the month for the same price as the previous year.”
According to Alfred Duma Local Municipality’s Electricity Department, electricity tariffs are cheaper on the prepaid meter than the conventional meter.
Not only is the increase in electricity leaving a dent in our pockets, but the price of refuse removal as well. When it comes to refuse removal, if you have a prepaid meter, your deposit will increase to 2½ times that of an old meter. You will pay R250, where old meter owners only previously paid a R100 security deposit.
However, the municipality has even worse plans for old meter owners to force them to switch over to prepaid.
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Over and above the R100 security deposit, they will now have to pay 2½ times their monthly consumption as a deposit on electricity. This is expected to take effect from the end of this month.
According to Mrs Hurter, consumers were informed in September last year about the deposit increase. That is the reason she and her husband installed a prepaid meter.
IFP councillor Mrs L Bhoobun is also worried about the electricity increase. She owns a business where she sells electricity and told the Ladysmith Gazette that people come to her every day and complain about the price. Some even ask for loans and if they can pay later when they have the money. “People are struggling to survive and this increase is affecting us all,” says Cllr Bhoobun.
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