Outa objects to drought levy

■ Residents have voiced their concerns about the proposed drought tax, which will help pay for projects that will make new water available.

■ Residents have voiced their concerns about the proposed drought tax, which will help pay for projects that will make new water available.

Published Jan 16, 2018

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The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) believes the City of Cape Town’s proposed Drought Levy has been the result of failed cooperative governance and a lack of the City’s ability to hold national authorities to account.

The organisation said this in their drought levy submission to the City. Opportunity for comment on the proposed levy closed yesterday. The City says it has received around 60 000 comments. 

The City says council will meet to consider the comments received on the drought charge and to determine the way forward regarding water resilience in the City of Cape Town. The discussions will inform the adjustment budget that will be tabled by the council for approval at the end of the month. 

OUTA’s Portfolio Manager for Water Julius Kleynhans said: “There appears to be a strong undercurrent of political point-scoring around the Cape Town water issue, which does not serve the public interests, and we thus urge the different levels of government to work together to resolve this urgent matter.

“The failure of cooperation between the City and the national Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has given rise to the City having to resort to a fiscal ‘self-help’ process, which we believe has serious unintended consequences and sets a dangerous precedent for future governance on this matter for other municipal revenue generating ‘opportunities’.”

OUTA urged the City to engage provincial government and, essentially, the DWS, in finding realistic and long-term solutions. 

“We believe that ultimately, the legal responsibility for ensuring a bulk water supply for the City is the responsibility of the DWS and that the City should thus act without delay to ensure delivery by DWS. Setting up a new municipal tax or surcharge requires a clear legal process, which the City does not appear to have followed. 

"We are also not convinced, on the basis of the available information, that this is an equitable way of paying for the necessary services,” Kleynhans said. 

While the City of Cape Town and its surrounding region is the most publicised water crisis currently attracting attention, it is not the only settlement suffering from a desperate water shortage, OUTA stressed. 

Similar crises in other South African towns should not go unresolved because they are less visible and their residents powerless. Instead, the City of Cape Town should be leading the way in negotiating for national solutions to this problem, the organisation said. 

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