eThekwini wins court victory over Westville ratepayers' association

The Durban high court has rejected the Westville Ratepayers' Association's (WRA) application challenging the lawfulness of the rates charged by eThekwini municipality two decades ago.

The ratepayer group had taken the city to court seeking to recover the rates they paid between 2005 and 2008, claiming that the payments they made in that period was not lawful due to the municipality’s failure to properly promulgate rates.

They backed this claim by an investigation report that WRA had commissioned which found that the municipality had not published the rates promulgation in the Provincial Gazette, thereby not complying with all relevant legislation.

However, the municipality challenged this and maintained that it had complied with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and published the promulgation in the Gazette.

Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the presiding judge confirmed that the WRA did not dispute the assertion made by the city.

“Furthermore, the judge said that ‘leaving aside that the application was based on a meritless investigation report, I disagree with the applicant that the municipality was obliged to comply with all relevant legislation in promulgating rates,’” she said.

eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba welcomed the judgement, saying it showcased the city’s dedication to conducting its business within the framework of the law.

“Residents must rest assured of our commitment to run a clean, accountable and transparent administration,” he said.

Xaba reiterated his willingness to engage with residents if they had concerns about municipal affairs and stressed the need to resolve disputes constructively.

Meanwhile, the WRA and the eThekwini Ratepayers' Protest Movement Association (ERPM) chair Asad Gaffar told TimesLIVE that their legal team was “preparing something” and commenting on whether they would be taking the matter further would be premature.

He said they are yet to have a sit-down with their legal team for a full analysis of the judgment but from his understanding, the city got off on a technicality. They used the Local Government Transition Act “which allowed them to get away with this”, he said.

Before this application, the WRA had famously staged a rates boycott against the city after the tariff increases that the city imposed ahead of the 2023/24 financial year. They argued that the increases were excessive and had been imposed without proper consultation, which resulted in them making their payments to a trust account instead of to the municipality.

The city responded by cutting off services to those who were withholding their payments and the association’s court interdict against the practice was eventually rejected, forcing them to pay the municipality, including penalties, interest and reconnection fees.

TimesLIVE