New Pretoria “waste tax” slammed
Civil society group, AfriForum, has hit out at the City of Tswhane’s implementation of a waste removal levy which it has deemed is “unconstitutional”.
The levy will mean that tax payers will have to pay an additional monthly fee of R127.04 for residential properties, and R2,911.67 for business properties, for waste removal from January 2018.
“This is not a service levy, but rather the taxing of a service,” said Morné Mostert, AfriForum’s head of Local Government Affairs.
“People are being taxed for access to a service and not the utilisation thereof. If a municipality wants to impose additional taxes, the Minister of Finance’s approval is required, which was obtained in this case here. Some areas do not even have access to waste removal services, but will also have to pay the levy.”
“It is unreasonable and inconsistent with the Constitution and municipal legislation,”
AfriForum said that the levy was not included in the municipality’s strategic plan, and the document further revealed that the public had not been notified prior to the implementation of the levy.
“This indicates that the municipality wants to exact additional funds that is not contained in its budgetary framework,” it said.
The Municipality originally imposed this levy in July/August this year, but explained in a statement that it was done erroneously and affected tax payers would be compensated. Consumers can dispute such accounts at the City Council in terms of section 102 of the Municipal Systems Act (Act No 32 of 2000).
AfriForum requested feedback on their letter by 19 December 2017.
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