George Municipality Slammed Over “Unaffordable” Tariff Hikes and Crumbling Infrastructure

GOOD Speech delivered during the George Municipality Council Meeting by Rosa Louw, GOOD George Municipality Councillor:

Honourable Speaker, members of the council, and fellow citizens,

We stand here today to address a critical issue affecting our community. The DA coalition’s push for privatization threatens to burden our underprivileged communities with unaffordable service increases.

We’ve allocated R797.1 million for capital projects, with significant portions going to Civil Engineering, Electro-technical, and Community Safety. Yet, our water infrastructure crumbles, streetlights fail, and pump stations malfunction.

We urge the administration to act swiftly: fix broken pipes, inspect daily, and ensure our money is spent wisely. The proposed increases – 11.32% for electricity, 6% for water, 6% for refuse – are unaffordable for our taxpayers. We say no to these hikes.

Let’s prioritise our community’s needs: fix our infrastructure, spend allocated funds, and serve our people. We cannot send money back year after year. It’s time for change.

Lastly Speaker indigent families refer to families or individuals with no income, often struggle to afford basic necessities like food, water, electricity and housing.

Indigent households qualify for subsidies or exemption on service payments, reduced rates for water and electricity.

It is in this context that we support people who do quality in terms of Government policy and our policy to give their dignity back. We want to call on the government officials and portfolio councillors to treat our indigent households with respect and dignity and not use them as soft targets.

Thank you, Mister Speaker.

GOOD Community Development: The party is involved in various community development projects.

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