Major push against Cape Town drought tax
Opposition has continued to mount against the City of Cape Town’s proposed drought charges, as the public consultation period on the temporary tax is set to come to a close on Friday.
According to a report by Die Burger, more than 40,000 comments had been received by 13:15 on Monday (8 January), with the majority of these expected to be against the proposed charges.
Despite the large amount of comments, concerns have been raised as to the timing of the consultation period, with Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance chairperson Philip Bam stating that the City deliberately asked for comment over December – when most Capetonians would be on holiday.
In December, Cape Town said that residents may have to pay a monthly “drought charge” for about three years from February, as officials try and raise R1 billion annually while dams in the province recover from the worst dry spell in more than a hundred years.
It was proposed that the charge would be applicable to residential properties valued from R400,000 and commercial properties valued from R50,000.
A home valued at R600,000 would pay a monthly drought charge of R35, while a home valued at R50 million would pay R2,800.
In terms of commercial properties, one valued at R500,000 would pay R60 a month, while one valued at R500 million would have to pay R56,000 monthly.
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