Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Cllr Hismajesty Maqhubu and Afrikaans soundbite by David Mc Kay. See attached pictures here, here, and here.
The DA is launching a community petition to demand the immediate suspension of Tokologo Local Municipality’s outrageous 37% electricity tariff increase, a move that flagrantly disregards both the municipality’s own application for a 22% hike and NERSA’s expert recommendation of 9.11%. See document here.
This excessive increase is not only unjustifiable but also a clear sign of maladministration and financial mismanagement. Tokologo’s leadership has ignored regulatory guidance and the economic realities facing residents, instead imposing a crippling burden on households and businesses already struggling with unemployment, rising food prices, and unreliable electricity.
The municipality’s actions are even more egregious given that NERSA’s analysis revealed inefficiencies, including excessive energy losses and unjustifiable interest on Eskom debt, both of which were explicitly excluded from allowable revenue. Yet Tokologo’s leadership has forced residents to pay for its own failures, deepening the community’s hardship as service delivery continues to deteriorate.
The DA calls for full transparency and accountability from the municipality. We demand that Tokologo immediately halt the 37% increase, provide a detailed breakdown of the tariff calculations, and engage in genuine public consultation.
Residents must not be punished for the municipality’s inability to manage its finances or to maintain its infrastructure.
The DA will get your municipality working by keeping the lights on, by reinvesting electricity revenue into municipal grids, enabling municipalities to buy and sell power, and supporting households and businesses that feed surplus electricity into the grid.
Residents can join the DA’s petition today and submit their formal objection to this punitive tariff. Together, we can hold Tokologo’s leadership to account and fight for affordable, reliable electricity for all.
The DA will continue to use every oversight mechanism to ensure your voice is heard and to reverse this injustice.