While Buffalo City residents may have won the recent Bhisho high court battle with the metro over its “basic charge” to be added to its electricity tariffs, the fight is far from over.
The judgment will be put on hold as the city is set to appeal.
The judgment, handed down by acting judge Ntsikelelo Mtshabe on Thursday, declared the 2024 council resolution to adopt the charges unconstitutional.
However, it will be set aside until a ruling is made by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In July 2024, residents marched on the city after an increase of 12% in the electricity tariff, coupled with the disputed new monthly basic charge of R376 for prepaid customers and an increased charge of R660 for postpaid consumers.
The metro’s new tariff structure had been approved by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa), which was also a respondent in the court proceedings, along with BCM mayor Princess Faku.
Mtshabe’s judgment meant if residents were billed on the day the judgment was handed down, they could lodge a complaint against the city and seek a refund.
Mtshabe ordered that the city’s decision to implement and apply a basic charge to municipal accounts be reviewed and set aside.
The judge ruled that the metro’s decision in May 2024 to introduce the basic charge was invalid and inconsistent with the constitution.
The application was brought against the city by various ratepayers’ associations which teamed up with nonprofit organisation Friends of Schalk.
The movement’s Schalk van der Sandt said on Tuesday that BCM had filed a notice to appeal.
This was confirmed by the ratepayers’ legal representative, Brandon Blignaut of MKB Attorneys, who worked on the case with advocate Brendan Tarr.
Van der Sandt said: “An appeal suspends the operation of the order. Our attorneys are dealing with the issue. We will consult tomorrow on the way forward.”
The metro said previously it should be noted that Mtshabe had provided no reasons for the judgment and BCM had instructed its attorneys to formally request the reasons.
Beacon Bay Ratepayers’ Association chair Scott Roebert said that “in the interest of being customer-centric the metro should give ratepayers reprieve from these availability charges for the next few months until a proper public participation process is carried out and amounts [are] agreed upon by all parties”.
The ratepayers’ legal teams were set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments.
After the judgment, many residents took to social media, with some demanding refunds or credit.
“They can credit my BCM account with the amount we’ve paid for the past 16 months,” one resident said.
“And if they repay the money, each and every one who benefits from this has to give R200 towards the attorney who took BCM to court.”
Another said: “They must pay our money back. Thanks to those who sacrificed their time and resources in the fight for justice.”
Van der Sandt said, however, that they had not asked for a refund.
“That was not our main objective. The refund is in excess of R3bn.
“Even if we ask for half of that money back it would cripple the municipality. Municipal employees would not get salaries.
“Our fight was for them to have public participation over these types of tariff hikes.
“I don’t understand why they are even appealing this case. A refund isn’t what we wanted.
“If the municipality’s appeal is not successful, we will then instruct our attorneys to ask for refunds to every ratepayer.”
Tarr said Mtshabe’s judgment was a huge order with “far-reaching consequences”.
But the order did not compel the city to refund residents for the already paid basic charge.
“The issue is that this order doesn’t act retrospectively, it doesn’t go backwards.
“The reason for that is, generally speaking, we can’t necessarily ask the court to go back in time.”
East London is considered to be one of the most expensive cities in the country electricity-wise, due to a combination of relatively high energy fees and the fixed charge.
Nelson Mandela Bay, Mbombela (Nelspruit), Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Durban do not impose a basic charge.
Johannesburg charges R230 and Cape Town R390.
Only Rustenburg has a high basic charge similar to BCM, with the mining town charging its residents a R513 basic charge.
In Ekurhuleni, the city was forced to suspend its R126 fixed electricity tariff after Thembisa residents launched violent protests against the decision.
Roebert, speaking on behalf of all the ratepayers’ associations, said the residents had been paying the charges under protest as they knew the process was “flawed and unlawful”.
He said they had just needed the court ruling to confirm that.
“We understand that the receiving of refunds from the financial years we have paid will be difficult to unbundle so we call on the metro to do the honourable thing and work out credits for consumers that can be applied in this financial year.”
The metro had not responded to requests for comment on the latest developments by the time of publication.
Daily Dispatch
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