The GOOD Party says it has obtained legal advice stating that the City of Cape Town must drop fixed tariffs by 30 June, which were declared unlawful by the Western Cape High Court, regardless of whether the Metro appeals the ruling.
The court ruled that municipal services may only be charged in proportion to their actual use and that charges based on the value of the property in question are unlawful and unfair. The case was brought by Afriforum and supported by SAPOA.
READ: Court rules in AfriForum’s favour: Cape Town’s tariffs must be based on actual usage
GOOD says launching an appeal against last week’s judgment will not suspend its binding effect. The court ordered the City to stop these fixed charges by the end of June, which is also the date by which the City must adopt its 2026/27 budget.
The City of Cape Town had earlier argued that the order would be suspended should it appeal.
But GOOD argues that these tariffs will not be allowed to continue until such time as a higher court overturns the judgment.
GOOD Party Secretary-General Brett Herron says they have now written to the City’s legal representatives to request urgent transparency regarding the Metro’s budgetary intentions to mitigate the risk of legal delays.
“The upshot is that for the City’s next budget and tariff policy, it would be unlawful to impose the fixed tariff fees for cleaning, water and sewage, as they would violate section 74(2) of the Systems Act, in accordance with the ratio of the Full Court.
“This means that even if the City does intend to seek leave to appeal and pursues an appeal against the Full Court’s order, in that period the City cannot, in law, again impose the impugned tariffs on the residents of Cape Town.
“Aside from these legal principles, it would be highly inappropriate and irregular for the City to do so. If the SCA or Constitutional Court ultimately upholds the Full Court’s judgment and order, and rules against the City after a few years, Capetonians may be denied effective relief against the unlawful imposition of charges in the interim.”
The party has requested a response from the City on this matter by Friday, 8 May.
The City has yet to indicate whether it intends to appeal the ruling.
In a statement released after the ruling, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the point of using property values to determine fixed charges is to protect lower and middle- income homes.
He argues that the only alternative to this is for everyone to pay a flat charge, regardless of whether they are low-income or affluent.
Hill-Lewis added that if this ruling stands, the City-wide cleaning charges will likely be moved back into the property rates account rather than being charged as a tariff, which would entail an increase to the proposed rate-in-rand.
As it stands, the City has tabled a 10,2% reduction in the rate-in-rand in the draft 2026/27 budget.
Meanwhile, the Cape Town Collective Ratepayers Association wants the City to extend the deadline for public participation in its draft municipal budget.
The association wants the public to be given until 15 May for public participation in the municipal budget, so there’s enough time to analyse this court judgement, arguing the City needs to clarify what the ruling means in relation to the budget. The deadline to comment expired on 30 April.
