The Democratic Alliance has launched legal proceedings against the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, alleging that residents were deliberately excluded from the decision-making process behind recent electricity tariff increases.
The opposition party argues that the municipality failed to provide adequate transparency or public consultation before implementing the new rates, effectively imposing a hidden cost on households and businesses in the region.
Nelson Mandela Bay has rejected these claims, maintaining that it adhered to all statutory requirements and procedural boxes before the tariffs took effect.
The municipality insists that the rate adjustments were necessary to address financial pressures and that due process was followed in full.
This legal dispute unfolds against a backdrop of severe fiscal instability for the municipality.
South Africa’s National Treasury recently invoked corrective measures, withholding the municipality’s July equitable share allocation.