The community has been called upon to meaningfully engage on the impact of the increases and the service improvements they expected in return.
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ActionSA urges the eThekwini Municipality to ensure that public consultations on proposed tariff increases are substantive rather than mere formalities.
Councillor Saul Basckin, representing ActionSA in eThekwini, stated that in previous years, the consultation process had limited evidence that public input meaningfully influenced the outcome.
Basckin was speaking after eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba presented the draft budget for the 2026/27 financial year at a council meeting on Tuesday.
The total proposed budget for 2026/2027 is R74.7 billion, comprising an operating budget of R68.8 billion and a capital budget of R5.9 billion.
The budget will be taken to the communities for public consultation.
Xaba said the budget addressed the tough time by balancing fiscal discipline with targeted revenue growth, aiming to manage high debt while supporting vulnerable households, infrastructure, and job creation.
“It is a budget based on the principles of sustainability, realistic revenue projections, and projects ready for rollout,” Xaba said.
Also discussed at the council meeting were the proposed tariff increases for electricity (10.5%), water (16%), sanitation (14%), and refuse collection (13%).
Xaba said a total of R1.1 billion would be spent on Trading Service reform projects in the 2026/2027 financial year, and R3.9 billion over the Medium-Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF).
Basckin warned that the above-inflation tariff increases raised concerns about affordability, fairness, and the continued deterioration of service delivery.
“Residents are now being asked to pay more across the board, including for water, which the municipality cannot account for. This is not a solution; it is simply shifting the cost of failure onto the people. These increases place an unfair and growing burden on compliant, rate-paying residents and businesses,” he said.
Themba Mvubu, EFF councillor in eThekwini, said residents derived no pleasure from hikes.
Jay Singh, representing the United Independent Movement, said communities needed clear assurance that the proposed tariff increases would translate into improved and reliable service delivery, not simply higher operating costs.
He called on communities to meaningfully engage on the impact of these increases and the service improvements they expected in return.
Democratic Liberal Congress Leader Patrick Pillay was concerned that the city's budget was prepared during a unique period, whereby the entire world was in an economic tailspin because of the US-Israel war in Iran.
“The economy worldwide is on a downward trend. Communities are experiencing the greatest financial hardship. Motorists face increases in petrol and diesel prices while food prices will be increasing at a rapid pace,” he said.
He said that ratepayers should not be charged any tariff increases and that the city should look further to cut expenditure fat and align the budget with 0% increases.
“The city should be subsidising these tariff increases and look at sacrificing the multimillion-rand events funding,” he said.