Ratepayers in Westville are withholding some R1.2 million in rates in protest at high tariff hikes by the eThekwini metro.
News24 reports that members of the Westville Ratepayers’ Association (WRA) have been depositing withheld rates and taxes into a holding bank account, which has five signatories.
The so-called eThekwini Rate Protest Movement boycott has been joined by at least 20 other local organisations. Leaders of the campaign are reported as saying that other ratepayers’ associations, which face similar struggles in their respective wards and municipalities, have asked to join the rates protest.
Earlier this year, the eThekwini council announced a sharp electricity tariff increase of 21.91%, which was roundly rejected. The mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, backtracked amid the outrage, and brought it down to 18.94%.
News24 says the boycott arises from the WRA lodging a Section 102 dispute with the metro over tariff hikes which residents say followed a ‘non-compliant’ public participation process.
The dispute was lodged against the backdrop of the municipality’s failure to recover unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure worth R427 million in the 2021/2022 financial year, and a R50 billion loss over five years.
The ANC spokesperson for KwaZulu-Natal, Mafika Mndebele, is quoted as saying that the boycotts were ‘illegal’ and ‘will have consequences’.
‘We encourage our people to raise the concerns they have with the municipality – and the municipality to work speedily to resolve them,’ he said.
[Image: Marlin Clark on Unsplash]