City of Cape Town's R39m legal bill under fire
Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s legal bill is more R39 million for the 2017/2018 financial year.
The amount was disclosed this week as the city was dealt a fresh blow when the courts granted the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers’ Association leave to appeal in the so-called “monster building” case.
Bo-Kaap Civic took the City to court over an 18-storey mixed-use development. Surrounding properties are bounded by Buitengracht, Rose, Long and Shortmarket streets.
The association first went to court in February, saying the development would further segregate Bo-Kaap from the city and cause a traffic nightmare. Their objection was dismissed by the Western Cape High Court in August. The association applied for leave to appeal which the city initially opposed. Two weeks ago, the city advised that it would abide by the court outcome.
On Thursday, the association was given leave to appeal. The legal battle with the association is one of a long list the city has fought in the High Court. The city’s legal bill is more than R39m for the 2017/2018 financial year.
The Bo-Kaap case in which the city is represented by Fairbridges Attorneys, cost close to R3.4m.
These figures are contained in an answer the city gave to ACDP councillor Grant Haskin, who inquired about the legal costs for the year. Haskin pointed to a perception that the city spends a lot of money and time in litigation. “From the answer, it’s clearly true,” he said.
Another perception he wanted to test was that the R39m and the number of cases was a “drop in the ocean in comparison to attempts by residents to take the city to court because High Court costs are prohibitive and time consuming”.
He said it appeared the city had access to “basically limitless amounts of ratepayers’ money to initiate action against and defend litigation initiated by the public, can and does bulldoze decisions and actions precisely because it can, knowing that there will be no challenge, that those affected have no or limited knowledge of their rights and have no funds”.
Sandra Dickson of the action group Stop COCT said the city tied residents up in procedures, in some cases via litigation. “This attitude reeks of the unwillingness of the city to respond to the public, and instead force its decision on everybody,” she said.
Dickson said the forced installation of water management devices was one of the issues residents complained the most about. And if residents had the funds, they would turn to the courts for remedy.
Complaints include meters shutting off before the allotted amount of water per day is reached, dysfunctional meters and residents being forced to pay for the meters.
Former councillor Tony Ehrenreich, who was a fierce critic of the administration while he served in council, said the legal bill “is symptomatic of how the city interacts with its residents”.
He said the money could have been better spent on housing and services.
“Residents have no recourse. They’ll keep you in a court process until you run out of funds,” he said.
The City of Cape Town did not respond by time of publication.
@WeekendArgus