With the new financial year starting for government organisations on 1 July 2021, the government has also announced a tariff increase on water, sewage, electricity and refuse, stating that it has done its best to keep tariffs low amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to help those who have been affected the most by it.
Some of the aspects affecting the increased tariffs on electricity include Eskom-driven increase of 17,8% to municipalities. Government states, “We’ve absorbed as much of this cost as we can, but it will still need a 13,5% City increase to cover costs. We spend about 65% of the tariff income just to buy the bulk energy from Eskom.” Other influences that have been stated include Winter, and the increased electricity usage that naturally occurs due to the winter with heaters, longer lighting and more, as well as COVID-19, with more people being at home for more of the time, resulting in increased electricity usage.
According to the newsletter sent out by the City of Cape Town, the metro has the lowest increase in tariffs of all metros based off of the available data which they state is due to effective management, which they are very proud of.
To view the full tariffs and rates, click here: 01 July 2021 Tariffs
