RUSTENBURG HERALD - RUSTENBURG - As usual around this time of the year most consumers have an extra frown or two on the forehead in anticipation of new municipal tariffs in terms of the RLM annual budget of 2025/26.
It’s old hat that consumer tariffs know only one way and that is up! New tariffs that will be charged in terms of the RLM annual budget 2025/26 are as follows: (One will have to be somewhat optimistic to hope that the Rustenburg Municipality will show consumers a little bit of mercy with tariffs that are more or less equal to the inflation rate which is currently only 2.8%).
Let us take a look at what consumers are facing in terms of the 2025/26 budget:
Basic water tariff: 5.8% increase
Water consumption: 13.0% increase
Sewerage services: 13.0% increase
Refuse removal: 5.8% increase
Basic electricity: 12.7% increase
Electricity consumption: 12.7% increase
Assessment rates: 4.4% increase
For the consumer the bad news is that some of these tariffs are 464% higher that the official inflation rate.
How much will you pay?
Let us now look at how the average household of the man in the street will be affected by the new tariffs. We assume that your property valuation is in the region of R2 700.00 (note that numerous property valuations have been doubled some two to three years ago) with electricity consumption of 1 000 units per month and water consumption of 30 kl per month. In effect, your household budget is going to look something like this: (Note that all tariffs include VAT).
Old tariff/new tariff
Assessment rates: R1 305.00 - R1 362.42
Basic water: R126.08 - R133.40
Water consumption: R829.43 - R937.25
Basic electricity: R620.67 - R699.49
Electricity consumption: R3 133.14 - R3 531.86
Refuse removal: R211.74 - R221.05
Sewerage: R292.78 - R331.25
Total: R6 518.84 - R7 216.72 (10.7%)
Note that this almost R700.00 increase is after tax and at a tax rate of 35% the first R945.00 of your salary increase will go to the Rustenburg municipality after tax. All in all, definitely not what qualifies as a consumer-friendly budget or a good year for Rustenburg consumers.
