Bad news if you own or live on a property valued at more than R1 million, OR make use of the old credit meters: as of July 1, you will be hit with an R8.21-a-day tariff just because.

That’s coming in at at R250 per month, before you whip out the calculator.

Okay, the City of Cape Town has a “reason”. The additional cost is aimed to “recover the cost of maintaining the service” which used to be built into the unit price for electricity, reports Times Live. Whatever that means.

Xanthea Limberg‚ the mayoral committee member for utilities‚ said “households that consumed more than 600 units of electricity a month would not notice a difference in their bills.”

Of course, despite that off-handed comment, Capetonians are no doubt unimpressed with the decision, because for some R250 is still a lot:

…dozens of Capetonians [have taken] to Facebook to voice their unhappiness.

Posting on the Water Shedding Western Cape Facebook group‚ Gené Clarkson said the proposed tariff increases were “shockingly high”.

Another user‚ Rosemary Lambard‚ said: “How many places in CT are not valued at over R1 million right now? And if you‚ like me‚ are a tenant in a vastly overpriced flat with a prepaid meter‚ you’re going to pick up that additional cost‚ not the landlord. This is not okay. Please go and object‚ everyone!”

Craig Ball said: “So why only for houses worth more than a million? We already pay more rates.”

But there’s more. Ratepayers in homes valued at more than R400 000 will also “lose their free basic water supply from July 1,” explains Times Live.

Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you vote for a party mesmerised by the virtues of the private sector.

[source:timeslive]