Court Battles Over Unfair Municipal Bills: What Property Owners Need to Know
Good news for property owners! In recent major decisions, two different High Courts in Gauteng have slammed down unfair and illogical charges for cleaning services that were being added to municipal bills in Tshwane and Johannesburg. This brings a huge sigh of relief to many.
Tshwane's "Cleaning Levy" - What Happened?
In Tshwane, almost 250,000 residents, many of whom never even received trash collection from the city, were being charged an extra R194 per month. This charge was called a "cleansing levy" and was supposed to pay for waste management.
A public interest group called Afriforum took legal action, arguing that this charge was illegal and didn't make sense. They also pointed out that it unfairly punished residents who had already found other ways to deal with their waste (because the city wasn't providing the service) and that the fee was for services already covered by other charges.
The North Gauteng High Court agreed with Afriforum. It declared the levy illegal, invalid, and completely without effect. The court ordered the city to stop billing residents immediately, credit back the money to affected accounts, and even pay Afriforum's legal costs. Importantly, the court rejected the city's claim that the levy was just to cover "system-wide" waste costs. Instead, it suggested the levy was a disguised attempt to fill a massive R540 million hole in the city's budget.
Johannesburg's Unlawful Refuse Charge
Similarly, the South Gauteng High Court recently ruled against an unfair refuse charge that was put in place from 2018 to 2022 for certain multi-unit residential buildings (those not divided into sectional titles like flats).
The City of Johannesburg had simply decided to move these buildings into a higher fee category for trash collection, even though they were already paying for it. Major housing providers took the city to court and successfully argued that there was no legal reason or policy in the city's rules to justify this new "non-sectional title" category. The court stressed that municipalities can only do what the law explicitly allows them to do. It found no logical reason to charge property owners more just because of a property classification that wasn't legally defined.
Cape Town's Fees Are Next!
Following these rulings, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) has now taken legal action in the Western Cape High Court against Cape Town's new (and highly debated) municipal fees. SAPOA wants the court to get rid of the city's cleaning levy and fixed charges for water and sanitation, which are part of its 2025/26 budget.
SAPOA argues that these charges are "illegal" and break various laws, including the Property Rates Act and even the Constitution. They claim that the city is unfairly punishing property owners by tying these charges to the value of their property. This particularly harms those who have invested in eco-friendly solutions like solar panels or rainwater harvesting, as they will still pay high fixed charges even if they use less city water or electricity. Other property groups and owners are backing this court challenge.
The Gauteng court rulings, combined with the challenge against Cape Town's fees, send a clear message to all municipalities across South Africa: You can't just make up illegal charges to cover budget shortfalls, and setting tariffs must always follow the law.