- North Gauteng High Court affirms that residents can’t be charged for undelivered services.
- AfriForum challenge exposes illegal billing of over 194 000 households in Tshwane.
- Judgment strengthens people’s right to accountable, transparent municipal governance.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has struck down the City of Tshwane’s controversial cleansing levy, calling it unlawful, unjustified, and unconstitutional.
The court's 31 July 2025 ruling comes after sustained pressure from civil rights group AfriForum, which took a bold stand against a municipality that sought to charge thousands of residents for refuse services that were never delivered.
Acting Judge GT Avvakoumides’s ruling affirms a fundamental principle that the poor and working-class cannot be used to paper over government failures.
Thousands billed for services never rendered
The cleansing levy, introduced in Tshwane’s 2025/2026 budget, was positioned as a solution to the City’s waste management funding shortfall. Yet, more than 194,000 households, by the City’s own admission, were not receiving waste removal services. In affected communities, residents were forced to find alternative and often costly ways to manage refuse on their own, while still being billed by the City.
AfriForum successfully argued that this amounted to Tshwane unlawful municipal charges, as residents were being billed for a service the municipality failed to deliver. The court agreed, finding that the City had acted outside the law and without regard for residents' lived realities.
‘No service, no charge’; a people-first standard
Judge Avvakoumides stated that the cleansing levy was not supported by facts, transparency, or accountability, and instead seemed like an attempt to patch financial shortfalls at residents’ expense.
Beyond the absence of service, the court found that the levy constituted double taxation. Property owners already pay general rates intended to fund waste collection. Adding a separate levy, without additional or improved service delivery, amounted to charging residents twice for the same obligation.
The ruling affirmed that Tshwane unlawful municipal charges violated constitutional principles of equity and fair administration, particularly in their impact on low-income communities already grappling with under-delivery of basic services.
A moment of accountability and a message to all municipalities
The case originated in June 2025, when AfriForum formally objected to the cleansing levy. Despite repeated requests for reconsideration, the City pressed ahead. Yet, in court, it failed to produce critical documentation or defend its rationale for the charge, exposing not only procedural flaws but a lack of public engagement and responsiveness.
The judgment sets an important precedent that municipal billing practices must be transparent, lawful, and tied to real, measurable service. It is a message not just to Tshwane, but to municipalities across South Africa that unlawful municipal charges are a breach of public trust and will not stand.
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