'Middle Class Opposes Tariffs'

Strongly support Sapoa's legal bid to have three fixed charges set aside.

- Antoinette Slabbert

It is not the rich, as Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis alleges, who are opposing the cleaning levy and linking fixed charges to property value in the city's budget, but the middle class, says the Cape Town Collective Ratepayers' Association (CTCRA).

The association represents 57 different ratepayer associations and has come out strongly in support of the South African Property Association's (Sapoa) court application to have three fixed metro council tariffs reviewed and set aside.

These are the city-wide cleaning levy and the fixed charges for water and sanitation.

The ratepayers are also accusing the DA, which governs in Cape Town, of double standards by fighting for the rule of law in other municipalities but proceeding with the implementation of what it believes are unlawful tariffs in Cape Town despite fierce opposition.

Sapoa's announcement last week of its court action prompted a sharply worded press release by Hill-Lewis characterising the litigation as "an attempt" by Sapoa members "to stop Cape Town's pro-poor budget to protect their own vested interests and put their profits ahead of the people of Cape Town".

Hill-Lewis did not, in his statement, address the arguments raised by Sapoa in its court papers, stating that the charges are in fact an unlawful tax that the city council is implementing without the necessary authority.