Freedom Front Plus Abstains From Voting

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) abstained from voting on the Langeberg Municipality’s 2026/27 budget, because it does not serve residents’ interests, but aims to “milk willing taxpayers” instead.

The party is not prepared to ignore the mandate it received from Langeberg voters, namely to ensure responsible financial management.

There are a number of reasons why the Freedom Front Plus cannot endorse the budget. Most notably, a process of public participation, as prescribed by municipal legislation, was not followed.

Unfortunately, the correct procedure of convening ward meetings where the public can provide input was not followed as in previous years, and the Municipal Manager and his administration have acknowledged this.

The Freedom Front Plus is not satisfied with this year’s process where a short questionnaire was completed and submitted by block leaders. Only around 800 to 900 of these questionnaires were submitted, while Langeberg serves approximately 130 000 residents and about 25 000 households. This means that only 0,03% of households could provide input on a municipal budget of R1,3 billion.

Clearly, decisions regarding how the budget will be spent are taken solely by municipal officials.

During a prior workshop, the Municipal Manager, Danie Lubbe, and the Mayor, Schalk van Eeden, gave the undertaking that all role players (individuals and organisations) who had submitted input would receive feedback. This did not happen.

In addition, most residents have very little to no access to the Municipality’s website, and unlike in the past, there was no meeting where residents could ask questions or provide input.

So, they have been denied their right to make a contribution.

The Freedom Front Plus proposes that the Municipality postpone adopting the budget with two weeks so that a public participation process can be duly followed before the budget is finally tabled for approval on 30 June.

At a previous council meeting, the Freedom Front Plus also requested that the property valuation roll be redone, but this request was denied even though the Municipality acknowledged that it has already identified 2 500 errors.

A large number of complaints have been received from property owners who claim that they did not receive correspondence on the matter or that their properties were never visited.

These incorrect valuations have a material impact on the budget. Although the Mayor presented a 21% reduction in property rates as a major saving for taxpayers, the reality is that incorrect valuations have erroneously increased property values by 50% or more, despite statistics showing that property values in the Western Cape have grown by an average of only 5% per year.

Consequently, property owners are actually facing a 14,8% increase in property rates.

Therefore, the Freedom Front Plus demands that the valuation process be redone for the sake of residents who own properties and loyally pay taxes.

Freedom Front Plus Digital Policy: The FF Plus supports digital transformation and access to technology.

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