Lesedi municipality valuation roll declared invalid
Background
Six property owners (companies and individuals) within the Lesedi Local Municipality challenged the lawfulness of the municipality’s general valuation roll (GV2024) for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029. They had expected a 4.9% property rates increase for 2024/2025 but received significantly higher increases.
When they queried this, they were informed that the increases resulted from the new valuation roll, and that the objection period had already lapsed.
The Core Issue
The applicants argued that the municipality materially failed to comply with section 49 of the MPRA, which requires:
- two consecutive weekly public notices in a local newspaper
- individual notice to each property owner
- publication of the roll on the municipality’s website
Crucially, it was common cause that no second consecutive weekly notice was published. The municipality’s attempt to remedy this through an April 2024 extension notice, together with email and postbox deliveries, was found to be insufficient and lacking in particularity. The website was only updated in November 2024 — well after the roll had taken effect.
The objection period ran from 1 March 2024 to 31 March 2024.
The Court’s Findings
The court held that compliance with section 49 is a condition precedent for any valuation roll to validly commence. The defects were not minor or technical. The absence of consecutive publication in the week following the first notice, the lack of particularity in the 10 April 2024 notice, the failure to provide proof of service of the disputed email transmissions and postbox deliveries, and the belated website publication on 8 November 2024 deprived registered property owners of the opportunity to exercise their statutory rights to inspect the roll and lodge objections.
The 2024–2029 general valuation roll was accordingly declared unlawful and invalid under the constitutional principle of legality.
The court also found that the applicants were not required to exhaust internal remedies first, since those remedies presuppose a validly adopted roll — and this roll never validly commenced.
The respondents’ argument that the matter was moot because the 2024/2025 financial year had lapsed was rejected, as the unlawful roll continues to affect subsequent years.
The Order
The court made the following key orders:
- The 2024–2029 valuation roll is declared unlawful and invalid due to the municipality’s material non-compliance with section 49 of the MPRA.
- Property rates levied against the applicants for 2024/2025 are set aside.
- The municipality must, within 60 days, recalculate the lawfully payable rates, credit any overpayments, and issue adjusted statements.
- Pending that, the municipality is interdicted from pursuing debt recovery against the applicants for those rates.
- The declaration operates prospectively for other ratepayers, but the applicants are entitled to retrospective relief.
- The municipality must pay the applicants’ costs on scale C, including the costs of two counsel.
In summary, the applicants were successful in their challenge. The municipality’s failure to follow the prescribed public notification process rendered the valuation roll invalid, and the rates levied accordingly unlawful.
This case serves as a strong reminder to municipalities of the importance of strict compliance with the procedural requirements set out in the MPRA. We have been informed that the Lesedi Local Municipality has filed an application for leave to appeal the judgment.