The Pretoria high court has set aside Tshwane metro’s implementation of a new garbage levy by which it planned to collect about R600m a year.
In May the municipality’s council approved implementation of a cleansing levy to bill 196,396 residential property ratepayers and 62,055 businesses using private refuse removal contractors. They do not pay the metro for garbage removal.
The municipality planned to raise R601m a year through the cleansing levy for the provision of waste-related services such as street cleaning and general urban hygiene management.
Lobby group AfriForum initiated the urgent application at the high court to halt the implementation of the levy, arguing that affected residents and businesses were contributing to the city’s cleaning services.
Acting judge George Avvakoumides in his judgment delivered on Thursday found the municipality’s implementation of the levy unlawful.
“The imposition of a cleansing levy by the [metro] is hereby declared unlawful, invalid and is of no force and effect and is accordingly set aside,” Avvakoumides said.
The municipality planned to implement the levy on July 1 amid the legal battle.
The court ordered the municipality to credit residents and businesses if it had billed them in July.
“In the event the city has activated its billing system to render accounts to residents and businesses with a cleansing levy, the city is ordered to forthwith take all reasonable measures and steps to ensure residents and businesses are not billed for the cleansing levy,” he said.
It was the Tshwane metro’s case that while the affected parties used private contractors, the municipality was still responsible for processing rubbish at landfills — a service those ratepayers received but did not pay for.
Louis Makhubele, the Tshwane metro’s waste management head, described the ratepayers as “free riders”.
“The treatment and management of waste is predominantly dealt with by the municipality. Much of the ratepayers’ waste is ultimately delivered at the facilities of the city of Tshwane for processing and management,” Makhubele said.
The court’s setting aside of the levy will be a blow to Tshwane metro mayor Nasiphi Moya’s plans to boost revenue collection.
The city has been struggling to balance its books and provide other basic services for years.
The levy resolution was supported and defended by Tshwane mayoral committee member for environment & agriculture management Obakeng Ramabodu.
It marks a second blow for the levy implementation by the city. In 2017, the metro under DA leader Solly Msimanga attempted to implement the levy but it was withdrawn after an uproar from civil society groups.
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