AfriForum to challenge Tshwane's new city cleaning levy in court
Image: Helenus Kruger / City of Tshwane
Civil rights organisation AfriForum will take the Tshwane Metro to court to have the implementation of the new city cleaning levy, approved at last week's council meeting, reviewed.
The organisation will first file an urgent court application before the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for an interim interdict to prevent the implementation of this levy on July 1 while its review application against the council resolution approving the levy is pending.
This step follows the metro's failure to respond to AfriForum's request for a review of the levy's suspension on Friday. The monthly levy, amounting to approximately R200 per month, will be levied on all properties that do not currently use the metro's refuse removal service.
Last week, AfriForum, through its legal team, requested the metro to undertake by Friday (6 June) that the implementation of the levy would be postponed pending the formulation of an alternative agreement or, if this cannot be done, until the legal proceedings in this regard have been concluded.
The metro, apart from their lawyers' acknowledgement of receipt of the attorney's letter, did not provide any further feedback. According to Deidre Steffens, AfriForum's advisor for Local Government Affairs, AfriForum made every effort to avoid a legal dispute from the outset.
'We approached the metro shortly after the council announced the plans for the levy in March this year and stressed that implementing it would result in an unfair double tax.'
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She added that the metro had the opportunity to rectify the matter, but now – due to its failure to respond, the matter will be taken to court for a review. 'The levy is presented as a so-called service-related fee. However, it is in reality an additional tax that owners must pay on top of the existing property tax that is used to finance non-revenue-generating services, such as street and neighbourhood cleaning,' she added.
AfriForum argues that the levy is not based on the level of usage as required by the Local Government Municipal Systems Act. The organisation further points out that the levy unfairly targets residents and businesses who do not make use of the municipal refuse collection service due to the metro's inefficient service delivery.
AfriForum's District Coordinator for Greater Pretoria South, Arno Roodt, maintains that the metro wants to punish residents for its inability to balance the city's budget. 'Rather than addressing the underlying causes of budget deficits, the metro is simply shifting the burden onto taxpayers – especially those who do not make use of the metro's inefficient service,' Roodt said.
These people already stump up expensive property tax and pay for private service providers, Roodt said.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Agriculture Management, Obakeng Ramabodu, recently explained that some shopping malls are being targeted because they often have multiple bins but only pay for one.
He cited that areas like Wonderpark Estate and malls such as Menlyn Mall are among those targeted, as they use private waste collection services that dispose of waste at city landfills. 'They use our landfills, (which) we maintain (at a cost). They don't maintain them and that is why we are calling for this cleansing levy,' he said.
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Trump's narrative is fixed, and in that narrative, South Africa is an unfriendly trading partner whose tariffs harm American interests. He argues, correctly or not, that South African import duties and market access protocols are unfavourable to US goods. That argument, however flawed, resonates with his domestic base, and therefore it will stand. The United States will not blink, and it will not backtrack. Thus, it is not sufficient for South Africa to hope against hope; it must respond. Minister Parks Tau, trade envoys, and industrial leaders must now do the hard intellectual and strategic labour of repositioning the country's economic posture. Nowhere is this urgency more pressing than in the automotive sector, a critical node of South Africa's manufacturing ecosystem. This sector is not only a source of direct jobs; it sustains a complex web of downstream industries, from component manufacturing and logistics to retail and after-market services. It is here that the 30 per cent tariff will hit hardest, and it is here that innovation, not inertia, must be summoned. The sector must accept that the American market, for the foreseeable future, has lost ground. The time has come for South Africa to pivot decisively toward other markets, especially those aligned with its economic diplomacy ambitions. The first option lies in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the single largest integrated market on the continent, and the largest globally by number of countries. With over 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion, the AfCFTA offers South Africa a natural and politically friendly trading space. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, presents high-value demand for affordable, durable automotive products, especially among its emerging middle classes and youthful populations. 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They are competitively priced, technologically competent, and now represent a serious challenge to traditional brands. But if left unmanaged, this trend could lead to the hollowing out of South Africa's manufacturing base. South Africa must use its BRICS membership as a strategic lever. China must be persuaded to localise the manufacturing of its automotive brands in South Africa. This is not a charity request; it is a strategic proposal. Chinese companies should be invited to co-invest in high-tech manufacturing and assembly infrastructure in Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal. This could take the form of co-assembled production alongside legacy OEMs like Mercedes-Benz SA, which now face looming layoffs. The South African government must incentivise this localisation through targeted industrial policy, special economic zones, and technology-sharing frameworks. In this regard, the principle of 'South Africa Inc' must be revived with urgency. 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