Court date in city showdown

CapeXit says that municipality should fight for a bigger fiscus allocation.

- Antoinette Slabbert

The date for the urgent court challenge to the city of Cape Town's three tariffs linked to property rates, has been set for 17 and 18 September in the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.

The challenge is being brought by the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) on behalf of its members and in the public interest.

Sapoa is challenging the city's cleaning levy and fixed charges for water and sanitation. All three tariffs - which were implemented on 1 July - are linked to property value, which Sapoa contends is unlawful.

It asks the court to declare the tariffs invalid and suspend the order for two months to allow the city to rectify it.

If the city cannot rectify the three tariffs in isolation and still raise the budgeted amounts from them, the court is asked to set aside the whole budget.

Would-be friends

According to Ben Groot, director at GVS Law which represents Sapoa, five other entities submitted requests to join the action as friends of the court. They are:

He says Sapoa has not objected to any of the requests, but Cape Town has not agreed to any of them.