eThekwini wins court victory over Westville Ratepayers Association

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

The group took the city to court seeking to recover the rates they paid between 2005 and 2008, arguing the payments weren’t lawful because of to the municipality’s failure to properly promulgate rates.

The WRA backed the claim with a report it had commissioned, which found that the municipality had not published the rates promulgation in the Provincial Gazette, thereby not complying with all relevant legislation.

The municipality maintained it had complied with the Municipal Finance Management Act and published the promulgation in the gazette.

Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the presiding judge confirmed 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’,” Sisilana said.

eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba said the judgment confirmed 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,” Xaba said.

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

The WRA and the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement chair Asad Gaffar said their legal team was “preparing something” and commenting on whether they would be taking the matter further would be premature.

Gaffar said they have 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 had used the Local Government Transition Act “which allowed them to get away with this”, he said.

The WRA staged a rates boycott against the city after the tariff increases were imposed ahead of the 2023/24 financial year. They argued the increases were excessive and had been imposed without proper consultation, and paid their bills to a trust account instead of to the municipality.

The city responded by cutting off services to those who were withholding payment. A court interdict against the cut offs was eventually rejected, forcing them to pay the municipality, including penalties, interest and reconnection fees.

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