CONSTITUTIONAL
How courts are shifting burden from citizens to local government
The Jordaan decision that the Constitutional Court handed down recently was a source of relief to many new and prospective homebuyers and was relevant to legal practitioners regarding the role of constitutional arguments in litigation. The court found that municipalities may not hold ratepayers liable for debt incurred by their predecessors in title. While the severe challenges municipalities face to raise adequate revenue to pay for the ever-growing list of service demands is well known, issues have arisen where municipalities have adopted policies that not only prejudice individual homebuyers or sellers but also give them a free pass on implementing effective debt-collection measures. Recently, there has been a significant amount of litigation in this area. Practices such as compelling ratepayers to pay for an entire financial year’s rates in advance to obtain a rates-clearance certificate and subsequently denying the seller a refund for the pro rata portion for which the ratepaye...
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