Cape Town - Residents buckling under the financial strain of the Covid-19 lockdown have expressed anger over the City’s refusal to halt property rates increases.
“In the view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown the effects this has had on ordinary people have really been hard especially for our elderly in the area. One would have hoped that the City had given some sort of compassion reducing the relief at least,” said Grassy Park Community Policing Forum (CPF) spokesperson Philip Bam.
He said the budget passed in May this year should be reviewed.
“We fully understand that the budget was put together months before the pandemic, however, the decision-makers could have changed it and it’s not too late for them to change it,” he said.
In Goodwood, the ratepayers association said it had received a number of complaints from residents who are struggling to cope.
Its chairperson Faisal Petersen said: “The recent increases for municipal services by the City has really hit ratepayers quite hard, taking into account the fixed basic charge aka ‘pipe levy’ and the electricity home-user charge that was imposed last year on all, but the City of Cape Town.”
According to Petersen, by rough calculations the City received about R33. 5million a month from the “pipe levy” and R78.2 m from the electricity supply levy, working on the projected 600000 ratepayers in the city.
“That’s a combined additional revenue of about R1.1billion before there’s any usage. Many ratepayers had to adjust their budgets last year to recover from these imposed charges, including the “drought taxes” with the water restriction level charges.
“The recent financial year brought an additional combined increase of 15% across services (water, sewerage, refuse, rates and electricity) and the current financial crisis our country is in, makes it impossible for people to survive.
“Ratepayers have to notify the City, when there’s potholes, when there’s power outages, when there’s illegal dumping, and then at times it takes numerous service calls and escalations, before the matter is addressed. It begs the question, are we getting value for money?”
In July hundreds of Capetonians rejected the City’s 4% rates and services increases which came into effect on July 1. This after 733 residents objected to the proposed increases during the public participation process of the City’s 2020/21 budget. According to a report tabled at council, 27.15% of the comments received were objections to the increase of water and electricity tariffs.
Mayco member for finance and deputy mayor Ian Neilson said: “As the City has communicated consistently throughout the crisis: If it could have had no increases due to Covid-19, it would have done so. Rates and services income all goes toward service provision. It had to slightly increase rates and services tariffs, on average to about 4%, as the costs to provide services increase.
“The City has the lowest average rates increases for a metro in South Africa. Even if one looks at comparable metros, such as Joburg, with their rates relief package - based on the City’s information, residential ratepayers in Cape Town will pay less per year for the same valuation than in Joburg.”
“The City did not have provision in its rates policy to provide blanket relief. It’s also believed not to be a sustainable approach and has been shown it’s difficult to regain the payments lost,” Neilson said.
Cape Argus