REFILWE MEKOA

The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality’s water and electricity tariff increases will negatively affect the poor.

This is according to DA’s Hams Britz. He was speaking after Mayor Thabo Manyoni presented the annual budget speech for the 2014/15 on Thursday at the Kaizer Sebothelo Stadium, Botshabelo. Britz says tariffs’ increases are between 18% and 25% which will affect some of the poor residents that are not amongst the 14000 indigent residents registered by the municipality.

He said the water and electricity tariffs should be increased as small as possible and acknowledged that they didn’t support the budget.

“For the past six years, the municipality has underspend more than a R160 million on the capital budget. That is promises down the drain as most of the projects are things that were put on the budget but the money wasn’t spent. This year again in April they only spend 58% of the capital budget,” said Bitz.

He added that some positive elements that the budget entailed was the rates, sanitation and refuse removal tariffs increase of 6% and the R70 000 addition of rebate on sanitation fees.