Last newsletter of the year.

Last bulletin of the year.
For contact details for other ratepayers, please go to CONTACTS on the
NTU/NBU website www.ntu-sa.net
Please pass this on to all interested and affected parties.
Number 26
December 17, 2009

During this year one thing has become very clear: ratepayers
associations are the only organizations that are effectively combating
the non-existence of service delivery. The laws regarding local
government are fair and equitable. But municipalities are not abiding
by these laws. On the one hand, citizens are expected to pay rates
and taxes, and are punished if they don't. On the other hand, local
governments are expected to be transparent and inclusive and
accountable, and there has been no evidence of that this year from any
municipality. It is easy to collect a debt, not so easy to demand
responsibility. This last year has shown that ratepayers need to
become a lot more active in order to make sure that this one-sidedness
doesn't become the norm.

For instance, new legislation sets out remuneration for ward
committees, but also sets out their duties. There should be no
remuneration without performance. Ratepayers should decide if ward
committees are working or not. Do ratepayers work with the ward
committees or do they demand that they be replaced? If anyone would
like to start a debate or seek consensus on this, this forum is
available for that purpose.

• Electricity tariff hikes: Alan Smaldon has compiled an objection
letter and you can contact him to ask how you can lodge a complaint:
asmaldon@chillibyte.com
• The ratepayers of Kirkwood, in the Eastern Cape, got a court
interdict to remove their municipal manager, who had been dismissed
for fraud and then re-instated by the ANC council. The costs of the
action are to borne by the municipal manager. So – it CAN be done!
If you would like to find out how the Kirkwood Ratepayers managed it,
contact Louise at kowiegrand@intekom.co.za
• FEKRRA (Kouga and Jeffrey's Bay) is growing with the addition of
Humansdorp. The issue here is misuse of taxpayers' money.
• The Tshwane Metro council has been found guilty of contempt of court
after they failed to reconnect the electricity of a resident who has
declared a dispute.
• The Louis Trichaardt ratepayers have applied to the municipality to
become external service providers in order to clean up the sewage
works that are discharging raw sewage into nearby rivers.
• Nersa has published the approved electricity charges for each
municipality. This is a list of what your municipality should be
charging you for electricity. The list cannot be loaded onto the
website as it is the wrong format, but it can be obtained by sending
me a mail.
• Residents of Heilbron won an interdict against the council to
prevent electricity cut-offs in the case of disputes, but the legal
costs (for the council to pay) have run to almost R100 000. This is
money that could have been far better spent in fixing things rather
than fighting the residents in court.
• The Special Investigating Unit (SUI) will be investigating all 24
municipalities in the North West, where local government has all but
collapsed. The main culprit is named as the ANC cadre deployment
system, which has stripped municipalities of all skills and experience
and given jobs to party loyalists. This is the first investigation of
its kind. It might be an interesting precedent for other regions.
• In Durban, I reported the municipality to the office of the Public
Protector, as I have been trying in vain for eighteen months to get an
explanation of the 'interim' charges on my Metro Bill. All my
numerous letters have been ignored, and my services have been
disconnected four times. And all I want is an explanation! I
received an acknowledgement of my PP complaint after two months. I
will be taking this up next year so watch this space.
• The Kroonstad municipality is R32 million in arrears with Eskom.
The ratepayers want to know what has happened to the money that was
paid by residents to the council for electricity. No answer yet from
the Premier's office.
• Good news from Dullstroom is that the municipality is working
together with ratepayers to solve problems, and the co-operation is
having great success.
• A resident of Johannesburg has called a dispute with her
municipality because her rates went from R60 per month to R1 555, an
increase of more than 2 000 per cent. According to her complaint, her
rates should be closer to R134 per month. At the time of writing,
there is no further news about the outcome of the dispute.
• Judging by the number of alarming news reports, pollution of our
water sources has reached crisis proportions. Even the government has
noticed, although their response has been to appoint committees and
working groups, and not actually to do anything about the pollution.
The NTU has an active water committee and appears to be the only body
that is concerned with direct action. Details for the water committee
are on the website.

If you would like to be placed on this mailing list, please send a
reply to nikimoore@7th-Avenue.co.za

Have a good end-of-year break, and we look forward to picking up the
cudgels again in 2010!

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