DA tells opposition to reject eThekwini budget as tariff fight heads to council vote

Staff Reporter

The Democratic Alliance has called on opposition parties in eThekwini to unite against the municipality’s 2026/27 budget, saying reduced tariff increases announced by the ANC still place an unaffordable burden on residents.

The budget is set to be tabled for adoption at a full council meeting on Friday.  

“The DA will not vote in support of the draft eThekwini budget, and any party that genuinely has the best interests of the residents and ratepayers of this city at heart should do the same,” DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said in a statement on Thursday.

The municipality announced the R74.7 billion draft budget in March, consisting of an operating budget of R68.8 billion and a capital budget of R5.9 billion.

Mayor Cyril Xaba said it was aimed at strengthening service delivery and upgrading infrastructure.

The original draft proposed increases of 10.5% for electricity, 15% for domestic water, 16% for non-domestic water, 13% for domestic sanitation, 14% for non-domestic sanitation and 13% for refuse removal.

Mthethwa said that after “sustained pressure from the DA”, the ANC had reduced the proposed increases to 9% for electricity, 12% for domestic water, 13% for non-domestic water, 8% for domestic sanitation, 9% for non-domestic sanitation and 9.5% for refuse removal.

“The DA remains firmly opposed to these tariff increases, despite the ANC’s last-minute attempts to soften the blow and present itself as responsive to residents’ concerns,” he said.

“In a city where residents endure electricity outages lasting up to three days at a time, where depots are under-resourced and overburdened, and where infrastructure failures are becoming the norm, expecting residents to pay more for worsening services amounts to exploitation.”

The budget fight comes in a hung council where the ANC remains the largest party, and runs the city government with an ANC,