At a stakeholder meeting held on 18 February, where the rates policy and credit control policy were discussed, the City of Johannesburg indicated the proposed category changes for 2022/23:
A new book on municipal property rates is currently in the process of publication, and will be a valuable reference guide for anyone needing to get to grips with property rates in South Africa. Ben Espach, one of our directors at Rates Watch, is a co-author of the book together with Lientjie Ackerman and Advocate Anthonie Viviers.
For many years, Rates Watch has believed that some municipalities have been getting away with the backdating of valuations in cases where they did not complete their work in time. This belief was put to the test at a recent appeal hearing at the Valuation Appeal Board for the City of Johannesburg (CoJ).