City cleansing levy: Tshwane Metro credits accounts after AfriForum’s court victory but remains silent on possible appeal
AfriForum welcomes the crediting that has been reported so far to the municipal accounts of residents who had to pay for the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s city cleansing levy (CCL) last month. The crediting of the levy, amounting to R194,37 (excluding VAT), follows the ruling made in AfriForum’s favour by the High Court in Pretoria on 31 July, declaring the new levy illegal and invalid.
In terms of the court decision, the metro must credit all municipal accounts on which the CCL has been levied in the next billing cycle. Several residents in the metro have since contacted AfriForum to confirm that the crediting is indeed being done and is indicated on the account as a credit for “miscellaneous charges”.
In the meantime, there is still uncertainty as to whether the metro will indeed file an application for leave to appeal the High Court ruling – as they have publicly stated.
“The metro was quick to announce that they would appeal the decision, but no formal application for leave to appeal has been made yet,” says Deidré Steffens, Advisor for Local Government Affairs at AfriForum.
“The hourglass for the metro to file an application for leave to appeal is now quickly running out. A total of 15 court days is allowed after rulings for the filing of an appeal application, which means that the metro must file their application by 21 August at the latest – that is, within the next week. If they miss this deadline, they will not be able to take this battle to court again,” explains Arno Roodt, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Greater Pretoria South.
Roodt, however, maintains that an appeal in this case would entail a further unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money. In a letter to the metro AfriForum last week also pointed out that the metro cannot continue to waste taxpayers’ money on court cases for which there is no merit. The civil rights organisation suggested that the metro should instead go back to the drawing board to find a way to see to it that next year’s budget is balanced in a legitimate manner.
“The court described the metro’s arguments in court as ‘confusing, misleading and incoherent’. The case has no merit for appeal. If politicians and officials do not realise this and continue to waste taxpayers’ money on a lost case, AfriForum will proceed to hold them personally liable for the costs,” Roodt maintains.
The metro announced its plan to introduce a CCL earlier this year, and although AfriForum as well as various political parties and private entities opposed its implementation from the outset, the metro went ahead with the implementation. AfriForum approached the metro several times to discuss the matter, but the requests were repeatedly rejected or ignored. This forced the civil rights organisation to fight the unlawful implementation of the levy in court.
Roodt emphasises that the crediting of almost R224 to the municipal accounts of approximately 260 000 households and businesses represents a huge total saving for the city’s residents. “The victory that AfriForum has won in the interest of the 260 000 households and businesses brings a total saving of more than R58 million into the pockets of the city’s residents in just one month. It is gratifying to see that the crediting of this illegal and invalid levy is taking place. Should the metro go ahead with their plan to apply for leave to appeal within the next week, AfriForum will fight to the end to ensure that the interests of the metro’s residents are protected against this surreptitious money-making scheme,” concludes Roodt.
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