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The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) has brought an urgent application in the Western Cape Division of the High Court to have three tariffs implemented by the City of Cape Town on 1 July reviewed and set aside.
It has also gone one step further by publishing a legal notice to invite other parties and individuals to join the litigation as friends of the court.
Bas Zuidberg, interim chair of the Cape Town Collective Ratepayers Association, has welcomed the news. He says the organisation, which represents 59 different ratepayers’ organisations, will study the legal documents and hopes to join the court action.
Sapoa is challenging the city’s cleaning levy as well as fixed charges for water and sanitation.
It asks the court to declare the tariffs invalid and suspend the order for two months to allow the city to rectify them. If the city can’t rectify the three tariffs in isolation and still raise the budgeted amounts, the court is asked to set aside the whole budget. This will also allow the city to adjust other tariffs so that the budget remains funded.
Sapoa has asked for an early court date so there can be certainty for all involved before preparation for the city’s 2026/27 budget starts on 1 September this year.
The organisation represents commercial retail property owners such as Growthpoint, Redefine, Old Mutual Properties, Attacq, Vukile Property Fund, Hyprop Investments and Resilient Reit.
They own properties in the city such as the V&A Waterfront, Canal Walk, Cape Gate, Table Bay Mall, Tyger Valley Shopping Centre and Cavendish Square, as well as portions of vacant land and residential developments.
However, most of its members are small businesses owning “a handful of properties”.
Sapoa says it is not bringing the application only on behalf of its members.
It explains that some property owners affected by the three tariffs are vulnerable and will have to sell their properties if the tariffs prevail, as they are simply unaffordable for them.
Sapoa describes the opposition against the tariffs from a wide range of property owners and acknowledges that the city tried to mitigate the impact by lowering some charges.
Reduction or rebate insufficient
The organisation however states: “A reduction or rebate cannot cure a charge which was unlawfully imposed.”
Sapoa explains that landlords monitor the cost of accommodation in their buildings in relation to the turnover of their tenants. If it surpasses a certain threshold, the tenants experience hardship and landlords must assist them. If that is due to increased municipal costs, there is little they can do. The lease may become unaffordable, and tenants may choose not to renew it.
Click here to read the rest of the article by Antoinette Slabbert on Moneyweb.