{"id":122269,"date":"2026-11-03T14:05:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/?p=122269"},"modified":"2026-11-03T14:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:05:55","slug":"afriforum-awaits-judgment-on-joburg-water-demand-management-levy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/afriforum-awaits-judgment-on-joburg-water-demand-management-levy\/","title":{"rendered":"AfriForum awaits judgment on Joburg water demand management levy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Marais-de-Vaal_English.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Marais de Vaal (English)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approximately R1,8 billion \u2013 equivalent to R1 million every day for five years \u2013 is being collected from Johannesburg residents through the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality\u2019s controversial water demand management levy, the legality of which was argued before the Johannesburg High Court yesterday. Judgment has been reserved in the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum brought the case to Court in June in an effort to seek urgent relief for residents after the Metro refused to explain the levy increase. The levy is a fixed charge of R107,74 per water connection per month, regardless of how much water a resident use. It represents a 65,6% increase from the previous charge of R65,08 and has been payable since 1 July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum argues that the Metro did not have a sufficient legal basis to impose the levy in the manner in which it did and that the charge is not genuinely intended to manage water demand. Instead, AfriForum maintains that the levy is being used to generate substantial additional revenue for a Municipality whose finances and ability to provide reliable services are already under severe pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A central issue argued before the Court was the Metro\u2019s failure to provide a clear explanation of how the charge of R107,74 was calculated and why such a substantial increase was necessary. AfriForum also challenged the Metro\u2019s decision to direct requests for information about the levy to a separate process under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), rather than providing the information as part of the public participation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The timing of the case is particularly significant. While the Court is considering whether the levy is lawful, residents across Johannesburg have been experiencing prolonged water interruptions, low pressure and unreliable supply. Johannesburg Water has warned that the system is under severe pressure and has called on residents to reduce their consumption, while the Metro continues to implement measures to stabilise affected parts of the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cJohannesburg residents are being asked to use less water while many of them are struggling to get water from their taps at all. At the same time, the Metro is collecting approximately R1,8 billion a year through a charge whose legal basis and calculation remain disputed. Residents deserve to know how this amount was determined, why it was substantially increased, and whether the Metro was entitled to impose it in the first place,\u201d says Marais de Vaal, AfriForum\u2019s Advisor for Environmental Affairs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum wants to remind Johannesburg residents that they have an opportunity through their vote in the local government elections on 4 November to hold the Metro accountable for its failures, including its failure to provide reliable water services and its handling of the disputed levy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regardless of the election outcome, AfriForum will continue to pursue justice and accountability for Johannesburg residents in relation to the water demand management levy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Approximately R1,8 billion \u2013 equivalent to R1 million every day for five years \u2013 is being collected from Johannesburg residents&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":122267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11166,11162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-affairs-media-statements","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":11166,"label":"Environmental affairs Media statements"},{"value":11162,"label":"Media statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Marjorie-van-Schalkwyk-Marais-de-Vaal-Carl-Meyer-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"AfriForum","author_link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/author\/meganswart\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":11166,"name":"Environmental affairs Media statements","slug":"environmental-affairs-media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11166,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":11162,"count":310,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11166,"category_count":310,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Environmental affairs Media statements","category_nicename":"environmental-affairs-media-statements","category_parent":11162},{"term_id":11162,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11162,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":3010,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11162,"category_count":3010,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122272,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122269\/revisions\/122272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}