8 NEWS
PEOPLE'S POST | ATHLONE Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Find a shoul shoulder der to lean lean on The Cancer Association of South Africa will be launching a support group on Saturday 20 July at 10:00 at the Eikehof Care Home at 7 Dunbar Street, Athlone. Anyone affected by cancer,
their caregivers as well as Relay for Life cancer survivors are welcome to attend. For more information phone Faieza on 021 689 5347 during office hours.
2013 National Teaching Awards The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is proud to be associated with the National Teaching Awards, which recognise excellence in education.
The presentation of the National Teaching Awards is one of the premier events on the education calendar. The WCED would like parents, WCED officials, unions and school governing bodies to encourage all schools and centres to nominate deserving teachers.
Nomination forms will be available at schools by the end of June 2013. The closing date for nominations is 31 July 2013. Teachers can be nominated in the following categories: • • • • • • • • • •
Excellence in Grade R Teaching Excellence in Primary School Teaching (Grades 1 – 7) Excellence in Secondary School Teaching (Grades 8 – 12) Excellence in Primary School Leadership Excellence in Secondary School Leadership Excellence in Special Needs Teaching Excellence in Information and Communication Technology – Enhanced Teaching Excellence in Mathematics Teaching Excellence in Science Teaching Lifetime Achievement Award
Appropriate prizes will be awarded to cluster and provincial finalists. In addition, winning schools will each receive a cash award to the value of R5 000 (cluster) and R7 500 (provincial) to be used for professional development of the teaching staff to improve classroom practice.
For further information, please contact the Directorate: Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute at tel. no. 021 900 5062/5035.
ELECTRICITY: HOW YOUR BILL IS CALCULATED
A shock to the system?
MARELIZE BARNARD
The City of Cape Town uses R880m of the money which people pay for their electricity to deliver other municipal services. Deputy mayor Ian Nielson confirmed that 10% of the City’s budgeted sales of electricity, or R880m, is used to finance services such as roads, public transport, clinics and libraries. The City pays 65% of the income from the sale of electricity, which it distributes on behalf of Eskom, to Eskom for the wholesale electricity account. In addition to the 10% fee which is used for “other services”, the City uses 25% of the amount which people pay for their electricity to maintain the electricity infrastructure. Imraahn Mukaddam, national director for the organisation Consumer Fair, said that charges of corruption have been submitted against the mayor, deputy mayor and City Manager of Cape Town. Mukaddam argues that the additional costs which municipalities add to Eskom tariff in-
creases to make money from taxpayers, is corrupt. He argues further that the formula used by the City to increase tariffs from Saturday 1 June is unfair and some households must pay more than 56% more for electricity. Neilson says the 56% only applies to “one specific block of tariffs”. In households which receive subsidised electricity because they are part of the “lifeline tariff block”, the monthly electricity account will show that true increase is “only 17%”. This is how electricity increases for the poor. . The lifeline tariff for electricity usage less than 350kWh a month is 79.7c/kWh. . As soon as a household on the lifeline tar-
iff uses more than 350kWh a month, the tariff shoots up to 185c/kWh. . Consumers must pay VAT on top of this tariff, which pushes the 79.7c/ kWh to 90.86c/kWh and the 185c/kWh up to 210c/kWh. . Neilson says it gets confusing because consumers on the lifeline tariff which use less than 250kWh a month get 60kWh for free and thus only pay for 190kWh. . The consumers who use between 250 and 450kWh get only 25kWh for free and they then also pay 185 c/kWh for electricity usage if they use more than 350kWh. Nielson says the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) requested that the City restructure its tariff scale. “It has a negative impact on consumers, in particular consumption levels, and for this reason the City decided to adjust the scale of free electricity.” Poor families fall mostly in the scale which uses less than 250kWh a month and the City has increased the amount of free electricity from 50kWh to 60kWh. “It is higher than the national average which requires consumers that use less than 150kWh receive 50kWh for free.”