Major tax win for people living in Tshwane
Thousands of residents in the City of Tshwane have been given some breathing room following a High Court order demanding that the city stop charging its new “city cleaning levy” while the matter is dealt with in court.
The city attempted to launch a new tax on residents from 1 July 2025, where it charged a new R224 ‘city cleaning levy’ on households that were not using the municipal refuse removal services.
The city had argued that residents who turned to using private refuse removal services were still making using of the city’s other refuse services—like dumps and waste processing—that they weren’t paying for.
However, AfriForum challenged the levy in court, arguing that this amounted to a double tax. The group ultimately won the case, with the court declaring the levy invalid.
Following the ruling, the City of Tshwane credited households that had been charged the levy in July and August, but then proceeded to reinstate all the charges in September, adding an extra R672 onto bills.
This resulted in some bills doubling in September, leading to bill shocks that put some vulnerable residents under extreme financial pressure.
The city also billed thousands of households incorretly, including sectional title units that were using municipal services through a body corporate.
While the city assured residents that these billing errors had been resolved, some sectional title residents reported having their matters ignored or closed without resolution.
This includes body corporates that were using private services that made zero use of municipal processing anywhere along the chain.
According to city officials, by appealing the court ruling, it put a stay on the order of invalidity, allowing it to continue to charge the levy as the legal process played out, pending the outcome of the appeal.
However, AfriForum then launched a legal challenge seeking a suspension order for this activity. It is also opposing the appeal.
In court, the group argued that the city’s reinstatement of the levy on bills prejudiced residents and caused widespread harm, while the suspension of the levy would not cause irreparable harm to the city.
This is premised on submissions from the city itself, which previously argued that service delivery would not be disrupted by the suspension.
The city also noted that the R280 million budgeted as revenue from the levy did not have any expenditure allocated against it.
In a ruling this week, the High Court agreed with AfriForum’s arguments, ordering the city to stop charging the levy.
AfriForum said the court reaffirmed that the metro’s levy is unlawful and that the original ruling remains in force pending the outcome of the appeal process.
As such, the metro may not levy the tariff until the appeal process is concluded, it said.
“The Tshwane Metro not only disregarded the initial court order by continuing with the levy, but also intimidated residents with threats of service interruptions, legal action and debt collection,” AfriForum said.
“The court described the Metro’s actions as ‘unlawful’, ‘unusual’ and a ‘direct breach of its constitutional duty’.”
The lobby group said that the City of Tshwane should immediately stop placing the levy on residents’ accounts, refund all amounts collected in full, and comply with the court order without further delay.
“Residents are encouraged to check their accounts and notify AfriForum if the Tshwane Metro does not rectify this immediately,” it said.
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