Dear Editor
Despite the City of Tshwane’s newly implemented City cleansing levy being declared illegal by the courts, Tshwane has now expanded its reach by billing sectional title property owners across the City of Tshwane for city cleansing, even when they are utilizing the City’s waste removal services and pay for this service on their body corporate’s account.
When the City cleasing levy was first tabled in the draft budget in council the DA raised strong objections that it was not clear which properties the City planned to charge this levy on. We maintained that the levy is nothing more than an attempt for the City to use residents as cash cows and tax the itself out of financial difficulty.
As residents of sectional title properties started receiving their September bills an amount of R223.53 for waste management and R447.06 for miscelaneous charges appeared on their bills. When querying this, residents received the answer that this is for city cleansing. These residents are now clearly being double taxed for waste removal, once on their body corporate’s account and once on their own account. All residents of sectional titles who have received this levy on their bills must officially disputes this charge with the City.
It is not clear if the City of Tshwane’s billing department is in complete dissaray and there is no handle on which properties use the City’s waste removal, or of it was the ANCs plan from the start to double bill sectional title properties in an attempt to balance the City’s books by double taxation.
What is clear, is that the ANC coalition government does not care about the impact of high bills on residents who are allready financially stretched.
DA councillors are making an inventory of complexes with a waste management account from the City where residents are also being billed a city cleansing levy.
We will submit these particulars to the City Manager and the chief financial officer for the double billing to be reversed.
Regards
Ald Cilliers Brink
DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate