Ratepayer associations across eThekwini are calling for a rates boycott to counter poor service delivery, collapsing infrastructure and the alleged maladministration of city funds, if requested negotiations around the table with all affected stakeholders fail.
Heading up the coalition of the ratepayers is Asad Gaffar, chairperson of the Westville Ratepayers’ Association (WRA).
“Should eThekwini Municipality and the KZN MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, not convene a meeting before the end of July, we will proceed with a rates boycott as an act of protest. WRA has opted to withhold rates payments and deposit the money into a trust fund, until the dispute that the WRA had lodged with the city is settled. We will still pay our rates, but it won’t be paid to the city.”
The notice for the boycott comes in the wake of what Gaffer said is a breakdown in communication in the WRA’s engagement with the city.
“It is no secret that service delivery is an issue throughout eThekwini. The infrastructure is so aged and there has been no maintenance. People are struggling to get water; there is raw sewage flowing in the suburbs; the streetlights don’t work; roads have collapsed. This entire city has collapsed.”
Gaffar said that the WRA has repeatedly appealed to eThekwini Municipality’s administration to engage with them in a constructive, solution-driven dialogue which could take place without imposing any financial burden on the ratepayers.
“We have been documenting our engagement with the city from the day we started, almost two and half years ago in December 2021. Our repeated requests to the municipality for this dialogue and intervention have fallen on deaf ears. This is our money, the hard-working ratepayers’ money which is being squandered. The maladministration taking place in the city is what is causing the problem of service delivery.
“So because there is no money in the departments, and money is being squandered, there is no money to fix any issues. There is a budget, but the money is leaving the city. Because if you feed the city, your money is going to get lost.
“We are totally appalled to learn of allegations that R600 million has been dished out by eThekwini Municipality in awarding tenders to a co-accused of the former mayor, Zandile Gumede, in her fraud and corruption trial and that R90 million was siphoned out in the last month of June 2023. It is evidently clear that there are no systems in place to prevent the loss of the ratepayers’ money and that this behaviour will remain.”
While there is opposition to the call for the rates boycott, Gaffar said what they are doing is a constitutional obligation on a social justice issue.
“We are obligated to ensure that our country works; that our city works. We are trying to fix eThekwini. We are not receiving services. We are not disputing that there are services needed and they need to be paid for. What we are disputing is the fact that when we put the money there, it disappears. We are fighting an injustice that affects everyone.
“We are going up against the state. We are fighting a giant; it is an economic fight. In fact, the President should phone us and thank us. We are keeping his money safe. The city has created an indifference amongst us and all we are asking for is engagement. This is our demand. We are not trying to punish the city. It is part of our constitutional right – giving power to the citizen.”
Ish Prahladh, chairperson of eThekwini Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (ERRA), warned that the imminent rates boycott could have dire consequences for the running, maintenance and administration of the city.
“A mass-based rates boycott will choke the city’s coffers, the poor to the working and middle-class residents and ratepayers will be hit the hardest. As a ratepayers and residents movement, we want to work with the city council to improve service delivery, eliminate all forms of corruption – internally and externally – and put an end to the contracting and hiring of sub-standard, outsourced BEE contractors who are adding to the infrastructure collapse, poor services and outages in electricity, water, sanitation, refuse removal and the general sore-sighted landscape of our inner-city suburbs encircled by squatter camps.
“Through the ratepayer associations, the heads of departments such as water, electricity, roads, parks and other departments must be held accountable. The residents are sick and tired of the excuses from eThekwini Municipality. We want to talk, but we want to hold the city accountable for the monies. The time has come to ask where our money is going to.”
Dr Annie Singh, chairperson of Asherville Ratepayers’ Association (ARA), said that a poll taken by the ARA to garner the view of the residents revealed that the majority of residents have no intention to support a rates boycott.
“As ratepayer organisations, we cannot make a unilateral decision to withhold rates because there are serious and very dire consequences for doing so. As the ARA, our position on the matter is clear that we are not supporting a rates boycott against the municipality and we have attempted to educate our residents by constant reminders of the negative effects associated with this.
“In our negotiations with the municipality, our demands have been made clear in that we have placed our mandate before the city for efficient and effective service delivery. We want improved services and we want to claim back what is ours. We certainly and undoubtedly do not want a collapse of the system and for anarchy to prevail. This can never be and will never be the solution that has been sought,” said Dr Singh.
Imtiaz Syed of the eThekwini Joint Ratepayers’ Association said: “An outright rates boycott will impact highly on the ratepayers in terms of arrears billing interest and disconnections. How will ratepayers fight this and with what tools within the Constitution? A lot still needs to be explored and understood. Ratepayer associations should apply their minds decisively and to the full extent of the programme they have.”
He added that the city needs to raise bills internally in terms of the rates policy for rates, water and electricity metered connections to all informal settlements through the city’s Human Settlements Department so that the budget will adjust according to these arrears and not at a cost to the ratepayer.
Annette May of the Community Law Centre (CLC) said that research showed there was no uniformity in rates withholding across municipalities. She said that the nature and form of any dispute with a municipality was determined by local conditions.
“For example, it is possible that not all ratepayers in a ratepayers’ association are withholding rates. The reasons for withholding also vary from municipality to municipality and can range from disputes concerning property rate tariffs to service delivery failures in respect of key services such as water and electricity. Despite these differences, it is possible to identify an emerging pattern in the steps that precipitate a formal declaration of dispute by ratepayer associations,” said May.
She added that this may include identifying a service delivery failure; engaging the municipality; declaring a dispute in terms of section 102(2) of the Municipal Systems Act; withholding payments; providing the municipality with regular accounts of money withheld and delivering services.
When asked about the pending rates boycott, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, Head of Communications for eThekwini Municipality, said: “This is a legal matter and we therefore cannot comment.”
