India Fair underway in KwaDukuza

It's a galore. The India fair is currently underway at the Sabha Hall in KwaDukuza, at the corner of Mahatma Gandhi and Blaine streets, The stock clearance sale can mean savings of up to 60% on traditional

Indian garments such as Saree, Punjabi, Kurti, Men's Wear, Cosmetics and much more. The Fair has been running from the 5th of May and will be wrapped on the 21st of May 2023.

A fixed service fee, a variable energy charge and an export (feed-in) rates have also been proposed. This is all contained in the KwaDukuza Draft Energy Policy, which also looks at ultimately enabling the municipality to ultimately bring in independent power producers.

The policy has received support from the ANC, the DA and EFF, who together constitute an overwhelming majority in Council. DA Caucus Whip Cllr Privi Makhan said there was an urgent need to regulate the installation and continued use of such equipment. The DA also calls for the prioritization of applications for business consumers, and the fast-tracking of the supply study that will lead to the introduction of IPPs into the local grid.

However smaller opposition parties are not keen on the idea. Independent Alliance (IA) Chairperson Cllr Commie Nhleko said the municipality was attempting to punish consumers for reducing their reliance on the municipal network.

“With the economy still struggling to recover, it's unconscionable to even consider the idea of adding an extra burden on consumers. We should all bear in mind that consumes have not failed to buy electricity from the municipality. It is the municipality that cannot supply consumers with the requited amount of electricity.

“While we accept regulating the installation of external devices, we reject the proposed tariff. It goes against national norms,” Cllr Nhleko stated.

Punishment

ActionSA has also come out very strongly against the proposed tariffs, accusing the municipality of seeking to depart from national government practices.

“While we believe there is a need to regulate the installation of such equipment to ensure safety for both the citizens and the electrical infrastructure in KwaDukuza, we also believe that such policies and by-laws must take lead from the directives of national government.

“ActionSA has therefore firmly opposed the policy on the basis that it seeks to punish residents rather than reward them for taking pragmatic steps to reduce their electrical demand and soften the heavy blow of the ANC-sponsored loadshedding,” stated ActionSA Caucus Whip, Cllr Sipho Zungu.

ActionSA has since called for the withdrawal of the proposed policy until adjustments are made to reduce the punitive measures (on consumers). The party is further advocating for the introduction of incentives to encourage consumers to embrace the idea of alternative energy sources, as the country continues to struggle to generate enough electricity to power the economy.

KwaDukuza Municipality, through media liaison officer Sipho Mkhize, has quashed the idea of using the policy to enhance revenue generation, at the expense of consumers. It says the policy seeks to promote safety, adding that some embedded generation installations may not be compliant with the law.

“The policy allows for all those that want to have an embedded generator system installed to be considered via an application process by the municipality where these will be checked for safety and the size of installation that is proposed,” Mkhize said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to space constraints and the late arrival of the municipality's response, we will run a detailed response in our next edition, which will also clarify the issue of solar panel tax incentive for individuals.