AfriForum is consulting with its lawyers with a view to taking the amended tariff proposals of the City of Cape Town on review, as it is doing in the City of Tshwane.

This comes after the city amended its initial tariff proposals following more than 14 000 objections.

The new proposals, which are currently open for public comment, fail to address some fundamental issues raised by stakeholders.

AfriForum’s head of local government Morné Mostert told Moneyweb there will be very little time for the court to deal with an urgent application to stop the implementation of the tariffs, should they ultimately be passed by the Cape Town council.

The deadline for public comment is Friday.

Thereafter, the council must still process the comments, draft responses, and pass the budget in its current form or with further amendments before 30 June. The new tariffs will take effect on 1 July.

Moneyweb notes that the civil rights group has submitted comments to the amendments, but is proactively preparing for a court challenge, should the city persist with the tariffs in their current form.

AfriForum objects to the linking of water and sanitation tariffs to property value rather than actual usage, which it argues offends the principles set out in the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act and Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Act.

The lack of a rational basis for linking water tariffs to property value absent any data or clear logical connection to service consumption, infrastructure cost, or fairness.

This violates the rule of law and is susceptible to a legality review, it says. 

‘Waste removal is a measurable, revenue-generating service provided to individual properties and must be funded exclusively through a ringfenced service tariff,’ said Mostert.

Full Moneyweb report