{"id":822571,"date":"2025-04-30T10:02:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=822571"},"modified":"2025-04-30T10:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T08:02:30","slug":"double-tax-warning-for-homeowners-in-one-of-south-africas-largest-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/822571\/double-tax-warning-for-homeowners-in-one-of-south-africas-largest-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Double tax warning for homeowners in one of South Africa’s largest cities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homeowners in the City of Tshwane face a newly proposed levy that critics say amounts to double taxation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality\u2019s plan to introduce a \u201cCity Cleansing Levy\u201d as part of its draft budget for the 2025\/2026 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new levy is expected to bring in over half a billion rand, but it will come at a steep cost to residents already struggling with high municipal bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The levy is aimed at properties valued above R250,000 that do not have an existing municipal waste account and instead use private waste collection services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also targets all vacant properties larger than 150,000 square metres. If implemented, households would pay R185 per month, while open stands would attract a charge of R194.37. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, civil rights organisation AfriForum is sounding the alarm, warning that the levy is not only unfair but may also be illegal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group argues that the metro is attempting to extract more money from already overburdened residents by charging them twice for waste services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because households using private providers will have to pay the proposed levy, even if they do not use city waste services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AfriForum’s Advisor for Local Government Affairs, Deidr\u00e9 Steffens, said the proposal directly contradicts Section 74(2) of the Municipal Systems Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This section of the Act stipulates that municipal service charges must be proportional to actual service usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA levy on properties, regardless of the use of a certain service, as planned here, is contrary to this section of the law,\u201d Steffens explained.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis levy is a clear attempt by the Metro to boost its revenue at the expense of overburdened residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also criticised the proposed new city cleansing levy, agreeing with AfriForum that it is another tax on the city\u2019s already overburdened residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is another tax attack on overburdened consumers at a time when property rates will already be higher because of a new valuation roll.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other ways to raise revenue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AfriForum has submitted formal objections and detailed proposals to the Metro as part of the public participation process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its written comments, AfriForum recommends several alternative revenue-boosting measures that would not increase residents’ financial burdens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include improving property tax collection in accordance with the Municipal Finance Management Act and repairing broken weighbridges at landfill sites to ensure more accurate load measurements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civil society group also said that cracking down on illegal dumping and addressing widespread mismanagement at sites like Bronkhorstspruit and Soshanguve would save money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also urge the City to revamp its waste removal model and prioritise transparency and better financial management over imposing new charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AfriForum\u2019s District Coordinator for Pretoria South, Arno Roodt, stressed the importance of internal reforms instead of punitive levies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are several alternative ways in which the Metro can increase its revenue without imposing further taxes on residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite submitting these suggestions and raising concerns in a previous letter to the City earlier this month, Roodt said the Metro has yet to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This continued silence has raised red flags about the integrity of the public participation process and whether residents\u2019 voices will be heard at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir absolute silence raises serious questions about whether residents\u2019 inputs and objections regarding this unfair proposed levy are being taken seriously,\u201d said Roodt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, AfriForum is committed to holding the Metro to account and protecting residents against exploitative financial practices.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homeowners in the City of Tshwane are facing a newly proposed levy that critics argue amounts to double taxation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":822656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2419,22420,853,22278],"class_list":["post-822571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-afriforum","tag-cleansing-levy","tag-south-africa","tag-the-city-of-tshwane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822571"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":822678,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822571\/revisions\/822678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}