to find the latest approved tariffs:
Go onto the NERSA website: www.nersa.org.za
Highlight Electricity, go to Economic Regulation, click on that.
Highlight Electricity Tariffs and right-click on “Click here to download” . This downloadable document contains all the approved tariffs for the different Metros and district municipalities.
The following letter is a request from Colesberg for a copy of the licence agreement between Nersa and the Colesberg Municipality:
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It has been officially confirmed that cutting off electricity for municipal rates arrears is illegal. This announcement was made this week by the South African energy regulator, NERSA. This means that all municipalities that cut off electricity because of rates disputes were acting illegally. The fines to municipalities who transgress are quite severe, and this has left the municipalities open to a number of class actions. Full story below: (more…)
Here follow three very interesting documents – they are the legal documents that were used to get the power restored to a group of Cullinan disputers who had their power cut off. They can be used as templates for similar cases in other parts of the country…. (more…)
Chair: Salie Vorster Website: Pretoria website
News from Pretoria
A high-court case won over pre—paid electricity:
On Thursday 11th June 2009, Mr Herman Jacobs of Wierda Park went to the Spar in Centurion to buy R200 pre-paid electricity. The shop assistant told him that his rates were in arrears and that the R200 had been allocated towards rates, that he still owed R296 in arrears, and that he must pay before she can give him pre-paid electricity. Mr Jacobs has not been paying the double charges on rates and refuse that the Tshwane municipality has been charging. He made a few phone calls to query this, but after receiving no response the NBU went to the High Court for an urgent interdict. The advocate was Marie Olivier. The case was heard on Friday, and it is with gratitude to Adv. Olivier and attorney Herman van Bergen that the interdict was granted. The judge was not complimentary about the way the municipality was handling the affair and made an order that the municipality must immediately give Mr Jacobs his R200 electricity.
The Pretoria Ratepayers Association has called a dispute with the Tshwane Metro because of a fault in the billing system. By all accounts the Metro discovered an underbilling dating back to 2004, and decided to add this to the 2009 accounts. The RA has declared a dispute on these grounds and declared that the arrear amount will not be paid by its members, as in many cases the arrears are irredeemable by the householders (in the case of tenants or property that has been sold).
Many small town residents report problems with obtaining pre-paid electricity vouchers, or the installation of pre-paid electricity meters. Reported problems include municipal officials refusing to supply boxes, very slow installation, and consumers are forced to travel to buy pre-paid vouchers to find that the relevant office is shut or the relevant official is not there. If you experience problems with pre-paid electricity supply, you can contact Hilda Ramokgadi at NERSA at her e-mail address: Hilda.Ramokgadi@nersa.org.za