The City of Tshwane is grappling with the aftermath of a high court judgment that deemed its city cleansing levy unlawful. 

The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, ruled on August 1, 2025, that the levy, challenged by AfriForum, was invalid. 

Tshwane’s cleansing levy specifically targets property owners who utilise private waste collection services, requiring them to pay a monthly R194 levy in addition to their private waste removal fees.

The city plans to generate revenue through this levy, expecting to collect an additional R540 million, but residents and organisations like the DA and AfriForum have expressed concerns over double taxation and unfair application.

Despite the ruling, the city continues to charge residents and businesses, sparking controversy and criticism.

Municipal spokesperson Selby Bokaba says the city is seeking senior legal counsel’s advice on implementing the judgment and determining a way forward. 

“The city is still within the one-month period to appeal the judgment,” he said. 

This follows the high court’s August 25 ruling denying the city’s application for leave to appeal.

The city’s actions have, however, been met with accusations of contempt of court, with the DA criticising Tshwane for continuing to charge residents a monthly cleansing levy of R194 despite the court’s ruling.

DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink has called on the city to reverse the implementation of the levy, citing complaints from residents who were charged for August. 

“The city’s actions are in direct violation of a court order,” he said, urging affected residents to lodge disputes on their municipal bills. 

He said the city has not lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court of Appeal, adding that “even if it does so, at the time the August bills were issued, no appeal was pending”.

“This month, the Tshwane metro ignored the order of the Gauteng High Court and charged residents for a city cleansing levy, which has been set aside as unlawful. What is more, previous charges that the municipality had reversed in terms of the court have been added back to municipal bills,” Brink said.

The DA plans to unpack the unlawful cleansing levy and Tshwane’s contempt of court on Wednesday, highlighting the cost of living in the city and how people struggle due to it.

AfriForum has given the city an ultimatum to accept the ruling and plan their budget according to legislation or risk putting the metro’s finances under pressure by appealing to the Supreme Court of Appeal. 

The court’s ruling criticised the city’s true motive behind the levy, stating that it was an attempt to unlawfully boost its revenue by around R540 million annually.

The city did not provide clarity on why it continued to charge residents after the court ruling or whether it would refund residents and businesses that had already paid the cleansing levy for August and previous months.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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