Civil rights organisation AfriForum will take the Tshwane Metro to court to have the implementation of the new city cleaning levy, approved at last week’s council meeting, reviewed.

The organisation will first file an urgent court application before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for an interim interdict to prevent the implementation of this levy on July 1 while its review application against the council resolution approving the levy is pending.

This step follows the metro’s failure to respond to AfriForum’s request for a review of the levy’s suspension on Friday. The monthly levy, amounting to approximately R200 per month, will be levied on all properties that do not currently use the metro’s refuse removal service.

Last week, AfriForum, through its legal team, requested the metro to undertake by Friday (6 June) that the implementation of the levy would be postponed pending the formulation of an alternative agreement or, if this cannot be done, until the legal proceedings in this regard have been concluded.

The metro, apart from their lawyers’ acknowledgement of receipt of the attorney’s letter, did not provide any further feedback. According to Deidre Steffens, AfriForum’s advisor for Local Government Affairs, AfriForum made every effort to avoid a legal dispute from the outset.

“We approached the metro shortly after the council announced the plans for the levy in March this year and stressed that implementing it would result in an unfair double tax.”

She added that the metro had the opportunity to rectify the matter, but now – due to its failure to respond, the matter will be taken to court for a review. “The levy is presented as a so-called service-related fee. However, it is in reality an additional tax that owners must pay on top of the existing property tax that is used to finance non-revenue-generating services, such as street and neighbourhood cleaning,” she added.

AfriForum argues that the levy is not based on the level of usage as required by the Local Government Municipal Systems Act. The organisation further points out that the levy unfairly targets residents and businesses who do not make use of the municipal refuse collection service due to the metro’s inefficient service delivery.

AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Greater Pretoria South, Arno Roodt,  maintains that the metro wants to punish residents for its inability to balance the city’s budget. “Rather than addressing the underlying causes of budget deficits, the metro is simply shifting the burden onto taxpayers – especially those who do not make use of the metro’s inefficient service,” Roodt said.

These people already stump up expensive property tax and pay for private service providers, Roodt said.

Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Agriculture Management, Obakeng Ramabodu, recently explained that some shopping malls are being targeted because they often have multiple bins but only pay for one.

He cited that areas like Wonderpark Estate and malls such as Menlyn Mall are among those targeted, as they use private waste collection services that dispose of waste at city landfills. “They use our landfills, (which) we maintain (at a cost). They don’t maintain them and that is why we are calling for this cleansing levy,” he said.

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