COURT BATTLE LOOMS OVER CITY'S BUDGET

Fixed charges 'contravene the legislative framework for municipal tariffs'

- THEOLIN TEMBO

WHILE the City of Cape Town is proudly touting its amended Hope Budget for 2025/26, the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) is taking legal action over the decision to link certain fixed charges to property values.

Even before being adopted in council, the City's budget has faced considerable criticism over its fixed charges, which Sapoa will now be challenging in the Western Cape High Court.

In his founding affidavit, Sapoa CEO Nilesh Gopal said the board resolved to take legal action seeking to challenge three items in the budget, namely the cleaning tariff, the fixed water charge, and the fixed sanitation charge.

"They contravene the applicable constitutional and national legislative framework applicable to the imposition of rates and the levying of tariffs for municipal services. Because they are linked to property values, the three items of the budget are in fact property rates imposed outside of the legislation which governs the imposition of such rates," he said in papers.

Sapoa's membership currently comprises more than 90% of the country's commercial and retail property industry, including some of the largest property-owning companies in South Africa.