Residents win fight against controversial levy

THE City of Tshwane will reverse its controversial monthly R194 cleansing levy on properties using private waste collectors by crediting affected residents' municipal accounts, but will not provide cash refunds.

- RAPULA MOATSHE

The city is backing down on its cleansing levy after it was deemed unlawful by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, following a legal action by AfriForum.

AfriForum argued in court that the levy was unfair double taxation, especially for those already paying private waste collectors.

The civic organisation also called on Tshwane to immediately stop placing the illegal levy on residents' accounts and to refund all amounts collected in full.

The city maintains it was trying to ensure a fair contribution to cleansing services, but AfriForum sees this as a victory against municipal overreach.

The city had planned to generate revenue through this levy, expecting to collect an additional R540 million.

Municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city will comply with a high court ruling to stop imposing the R194 per month levy on properties using private waste collectors.

This comes after the city reported last month that it hit a milestone by collecting R4 billion in revenue for the first time in a single month.