Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
4 March 2025 | 13:30 CAT
2 min read

Residents of Msunduzi are voicing strong opposition to proposed tariff increases, with over 2,600 objections submitted. However, many encountered difficulties with email submissions bouncing back, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the public consultation process. The Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers, and Civics (MARRC) is calling for an extension to ensure all objections are acknowledged.

In an interview with Radio Islam, MARRC CEO Anthony Waldhausen criticised the municipality’s plan to raise tariffs while failing to provide reliable services. “The municipality wants to increase the tariffs for refuse collection to 7%, but for the past three weeks, residents haven’t had their refuse collected due to ongoing truck breakdowns. This isn’t the first time,” he said.

Waldhausen emphasises that they are paying for services that are not being rendered.

Beyond poor service delivery, he pointed to financial mismanagement within the municipality. He explained that the Auditor-General released a damning report. For the third year running, Msunduzi Municipality received a qualified audit, with R900 million flagged as irregular, wasteful, and fruitless expenditure. “They want to increase tariffs, but we’re paying for poor service and corruption,” he said.

Residents also faced challenges submitting their objections. MARRC developed an online form to streamline the process, automatically forwarding submissions to the municipality while providing residents with a copy for record-keeping. However, many complaints surfaced on social media about emails bouncing back. “We have written to the acting municipal manager for feedback on how they’ll rectify this because its prejudicing residents who wanted to make an objection but were not able to,” Waldhausen said.

MARRC has requested an extension to allow those affected to resubmit their objections. “We’ve had meetings upon meetings with municipal officials, from the mayor to the deputy mayor and municipal manager, but nothing comes of it,” Waldhausen said. He highlighted that they have even proposed potential solutions, but the city is not serious about implementing them. “The biggest challenge is political interference at every level, which hampers development and service delivery. The city is completely dysfunctional and collapsing under the watch of the mayor and council,” he added.

The proposed tariff hikes could have severe financial consequences for residents and businesses. “Households are already struggling with rising grocery costs. With all these increases, people are barely keeping their heads above water,” he said.

Waldhausen noted that some residents have municipal accounts of R50, 000, R100, 000, even over R700, 000, and they cannot get any assistance to sort out billing disputes.

MARRC is awaiting feedback from municipal officials regarding the objection process. “One of the senior managers from the revenue department is supposed to get back to us. We are monitoring this whole process because if they don’t accept objections or fail to acknowledge and respond to residents, they aren’t complying with legislation,” he stated.

If due process is not followed, MARRC is prepared to take legal action. Waldhausen emphasised that this is not just about tariffs—it is about ensuring residents’ voices are heard.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Anthony Waldhausen CEO of Msunduzi Association of Residents Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC), here.