Residents in Cape Town want transparency on municipal charges
With the local elections just around the corner, Cape Town residents are questioning the city's municipal charges and calling for transparency.
Image: File
Ratepayers and watchdogs together with political parties have raised concerns over who benefitted from the City's fixed municipal charges, which the Western Cape High Court recently struck down.
The coalition have cautioned residents to cast their vote wisely in upcoming the local government elections, demanding transparency, lawful tariffs, and honest communication from the municipality.
This comes as the City announced that it will publish amendments to its tabled Budget 2026/27 for public comment after the Western Cape High Court held that it had unlawfully exceeded its powers by imposing the charges in a form not authorised by either the Constitution or national legislation.
Introduced in the City’s 2025/26 budget, the cleaning charge, fixed sewerage charge, and fixed water charge were imposed with effect from July 1.
Following public backlash, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) and co-applicant, AfriForum successfully challenged the City, and the court set it aside from June 30, 2026.
GOOD Party City of Cape Town councillor and founder of STOP CoCT, Sandra Dickson, said residents were sold a narrative, and the question now arose: Who was really benefiting from the tariff model in the first place?
"The City now claims it is 'protecting' residents by increasing the rates-free rebate from R450 000 to R620 000, but residents should not be fooled by headline announcements before seeing the actual numbers."
Riyad Isaac from Schaapkraal Ratepayers and leader of the United South Africa (USA) said the City should be fair to the every household.
“The problem was simple: the City was charging for water, sewer, and cleaning based on property value, not on how much people actually use.
“Residents deserve: Honest communication, fair and legal billing and no shifting of blame."
The Cape Town Collective Ratepayers Association (CTCRA) said it would be studying the City's request for public participation.
Whistle-blower, Oscar Bougardt, said the City must consider its implications on poorer households.
“It is advisable for the City of Cape Town to think of residents in poor areas, including the unemployed, pensioners, and single parents, to carefully consider the implications of this proposal. Residents of Cape Town have the power to shape the city's future through their votes in the upcoming local government elections on November 4, 2026.”
SAPOA did not respond to queries.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis proposed that to "protect lower- and middle-income households from the impact of the court ruling, a further raising of the rates-free rebate to the first R620 000 of property value, up from R450 000, for residential properties under R8m".
It said all indigent benefits will also apply up to R620 000 residential property value.
He said the City engages the National Treasury and Co-operative Governance Departments nationally to seek regulatory clarity on available options for municipalities to equitably cross-subsidise lower- and middle-income households.
Proposed amendments for public comment (May 27 – June10 ) include:
- City-wide cleaning costs return to property rates: This removes the separate bill charge, increasing residential and commercial property rates. Residential rates change from the tabled -10.2% reduction. Commercial electricity unit costs will reduce due to the phased reduction of the surcharge contribution. Residential electricity tariffs are unaffected as they no longer contribute this way.
- Fixed Water and Sanitation charges revert to meter connection size: This method, used before property value bands, means higher value properties will pay less fixed charges, while lower value properties will pay more.
“The City has tried to buffer this impact by consolidating the fixed tariff charged for all meter sizes up to 22mm, and shifting costs to higher consumption users compared to the March tabled budget through increases to the step tariffs above 10.5kl consumption,” the Hill-Lewis said.