
Plug in and pay more: Emalahleni's new tariffs now active
The Emalahleni Local Municipality has announced the new prepaid rates for the 2025/26 financial year, effective from today, causing residents to feel the pinch.
According to the communication unit of the municipality, residential customers will now be charged a rate of R3.8300 per unit of electricity, along with a basic monthly charge of R100.
Business customers, on the other hand, will face a higher rate of R5.3430 per unit, accompanied by a basic monthly fee of R1680.22.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to plan accordingly and adjust their budgets to reflect the new rates. Most importantly, use electricity wisely.
Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS on our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok
Chat to us: info@witbanknews.co.za
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Citizen
an hour ago
- The Citizen
‘I'm not getting any younger,' says judge as VBS Bank case delayed again
The matter will return to court in 2026. The long-running Venda Building Society (VBS) Mutual Bank fraud and corruption case has once again been delayed, with proceedings now postponed until next year. On Monday, 13 suspects linked to the looting of the VBS appeared before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Among them are former bank executives and several politicians accused of defrauding the collapsed bank of more than R2 billion. ALSO READ: Mayor claims she was exonerated of VBS graft allegations The trial has faced repeated delays, partly due to interlocutory applications brought by some of the accused. Former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) leader Kabelo Matsepe and former Limpopo ANC treasurer Danny Msiza last year sought to have their trials separated or, alternatively, to secure a temporary stay of prosecution, citing delays in the matter. In August 2024, Judge Peter Mabuse granted their applications, but the state appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). VBS Bank case postponed On Monday, the case could not proceed as more of the accused signalled their intention to also separate their trials, arguing that the drawn-out process is prejudicial. Prosecutor Hein van der Merwe told the court that the state is still awaiting the SCA's response to its petition. He asked for a postponement, while the defence objected, saying it was unfair for some of the accused – many of whom live in Limpopo – to travel to Gauteng only for proceedings to be adjourned. Mabuse nonetheless granted the postponement, though no trial date has yet been fixed. 'In that case, I order that this matter be postponed to 9 February 2026,' the judge ruled. The bail conditions of the accused were extended. Mabuse added light-heartedly: 'Please in the meantime bear in mind that I'm not getting any younger.' State prosecutor Hein van der Merwe at the Pretoria High Court on 14 August 2024. Picture: Gallo Images / Deaan Vivier So far, at least 35 people have been arrested in connection with the scandal, and six convictions have been secured. Among them was last year's sentencing of former VBS chairperson Tshifhiwa Matodzi, who received 15 years in prison for stealing more than R1.9 billion. In addition, liquidators have managed to recover R730 million from the bank's collapse in 2018. The recovered funds will be paid to verified creditors, including municipalities, trade creditors, and retail depositors with balances exceeding R100 000. NOW READ: Rebuild VBS, urges ANC treasurer-general

IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
The life and times of Joel Booysen: ‘Stay blessed', he tells a TikTok 'hater'
Businessman turned social media influencer, Joel Booysen. Image: screenshot/TikTok The name Joel Booysen has become well known, not just for who his father is, but for the social media presence the businessman has garnered. Joel is the son of alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome 'Donkie' Booysen. While his father is surrounded by controversy, Joel is living his best life and sharing his high life on social media platforms. Joel is also the owner of popular sneaker store by day, nightclub at night, Sneaker Cartel in Long Street in the Cape Town central business district (CBD). ♬ original sound - 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐋𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐘𝐒𝐄𝐍! @joelbooysen6_ Replying to @ we all gotta die someday my bro , I dont think you realize that, hating /envy is a bad disease I PRAY YOU CURE yourself completely from it 🙏💯 we all sin differently BUT it all falls under one title SIN 👏 so excuse me for actually living life GOD blessed us with!! stay blessed bro 🎊 and live life to the fullest #Joelbooysen Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading While Joel has many supporters, he is not without haters, but he has taken the hate with a smile. Instead, he has urged those haters to rather live life than hating. In his latest video posted to TikTok on Saturday, Joel responded to a user who wrote: 'You will dance and dance… but not for long'. He has over 94,000 followers and 1.1 million likes on TikTok alone. In his caption, Joel wrote: 'We all gotta die someday my bro, I don't think you realise that. Hating/envy is a bad disease. I pray you cure yourself completely from it. We all sin differently but it all falls under one sin so excuse me for actually living life God blessed us with! Stay blessed bro and live life to the fullest [sic]' In his video, which has over 330,000 views and over 9,000 likes, Joel is seated in a luxury vehicle that looks like something out of a Hollywood music video. Speaking to the camera, he asks: What colour do you want? He then proceeds to touch a screen built into the seating and change the light colour from yellow, white, and blue.


The Citizen
8 hours ago
- The Citizen
Court cancels loan that ballooned from R500k to R2m in 7 months
The lender was not registered as a credit provider and was charging interest at 20% per month. Here's a case of a loan that ballooned from R500 000 to R1.93 million in just seven months, with interest on arrears charged at 20% monthly. Great business if you can get away with it. Fortunately for the borrower, Phek Engineering and Suppliers, the Mafikeng High Court in North West Province was having none of it. The court dismissed the lender Baletsema of Johannesburg's application to recover the loan after finding that it was not registered as a credit provider under the National Credit Act (NCA). The loan agreement was signed on 16 January 2023, with Phek's sole member, Motlhopesi Phekola, signing as surety and offering seven vehicles and a farm as collateral. The loan was for R500 000, with R100 000 repayable a month later and R600 000 less than two months later. On this basis, Baletsema would make a R200 000 return on the loan in less than two months. ALSO READ: Credit and the law: Here are the rights you must know about The respondents missed the repayment deadlines, resulting in Phekola signing a R1.2 million acknowledgement of debt in early April 2023. The debt had to be paid on or before 31 May 2023. Failure to pay meant the outstanding loan amount would thereafter attract interest at 20% a month. When the payment deadlines were missed, lawyers were brought in, dispatching letters of demand on 6 April 2023 and again on 6 August, by which time the certificate of balance reflected an amount of R1.93 million. In October 2023, Baletsema took the matter to court. Phekola filed an answering affidavit arguing that the acknowledgement of debt was a credit agreement under the NCA and that the size of the loan amount meant the lender should have registered as a credit provider. On this basis, the acknowledgement of debt was unlawful. Phekola further argued that the lender failed to conduct an affordability assessment, as required by the NCA. The borrower also raised the in duplum ('double') rule, a common law principle that says the interest on a loan stops running when the unpaid interest equals the outstanding capital. ALSO READ: Is the interest on your personal loan within legal limits? Here's how to find out Baletsema argued that it did not have to register as a credit provider under the NCA because the borrower was a juristic person (an organisation rather than a natural person) with a turnover and assets in excess of R1 million. Acting Judge Winnie Malane of the Mafikeng High Court disagreed, ruling that the acknowledgement of debt established a credit agreement between the lender and borrower. 'In terms of the NCA, a credit agreement is unlawful if, when it was concluded, the credit provider was unregistered. The requirement to register as a credit provider is applicable to all credit agreements once the prescribed threshold is reached,' reads the judgment. The court found that the acknowledgement of debt signed by Phekola fell under the NCA and was therefore unlawful and must be treated as void. It thus dismissed the lender's attempts to use the court to compel its debt payment. ALSO READ: Consumers warned about 4 000 credit providers with lapsed registration: Here's how to check It remains to be seen if this ruling is appealed because the original acknowledgement of debt was (arguably) not subject to the NCA, and whether the lender was obliged to register as a credit provider. Consumer legal advisor Leonard Benjamin says there might also be grounds to appeal on the basis that the NCA does not apply in this case as it is a 'large agreement' – more than R250 000, even when the borrower is a juristic person with a turnover of less than R1 million. 'However, the in duplum defence certainly seems to be viable,' says Benjamin. 'I also think that the interest being levied is so usurious that it offends against public policy.' This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.