Had enough of the ruling class’s theft and incompetence? Westville ratepayers shed light on the way forward

27 Aug 2023

There are examples around South Africa of people who have previously paid their council bills being up in arms. But nowhere is this as acute as in eThekwini, where developments herald a complicated future.

Events in eThekwini have led to a formal dispute between the council and ratepayers in Westville that may mark the beginning of a nationwide pattern. In short, as middle-class people of South Africa believe they are getting virtually nothing in return for the money they pay to councils, they are more likely to refuse to pay their rates and bills, pushing the very same cities and towns into an even deeper hole.

Despite the fact their move may be ruled illegal, because of the behaviour of these councils, many will regard the citizens’ actions as morally legitimate. It could mark the beginning of the end of the formal arrangement between councils and middle-class ratepayers, who may even defy court judgments against them.

There are examples around South Africa of people who have previously paid their council bills being up in arms. In Joburg, large numbers of residents are challenging the revaluation of their properties, saying it is simply a move to get more money from them. In Cape Town, ratepayers have protested against increased electricity tariffs.

Residents in many municipalities complain they are paying more and receiving less.

But nowhere is this as acute as in eThekwini, where developments herald a complicated future.

Since the beginning of July, members of the Westville Ratepayers Association (WRA) have refused to pay their rates and bills directly to the eThekwini Council, opting to pay them into a special account instead. The WRA says it will only pay the money over when the council properly consults them about some of the recent increases it has implemented.

There have been other incidents of this kind of protest in the past. None lasted, and at least one ended up in the Constitutional Court. In that case, the court appeared to rule that residents must pay their bills.

Poorer residents will suffer

Whatever the lawyers say, it must be remembered that councils use the rates paid by middle-class people to subsidise their services for poorer residents. If they don’t pay, those people will suffer very quickly.

In the past, the main weapon used by councils was cutting off electricity and water. This was a decision the council could make on its own without having to go to court, and if a council did this illegally, the onus was on the resident to challenge it in court.

This may now be changing.

As WRA chair Asad Gaff has explained, many residents have become so accustomed to load shedding that they have their own power supplies, including solar installations.

The other big lever of course was water. There have been so many water disruptions that people have resorted to other means here too, including the installation of large tanks to capture rainwater.

At the same time, many councils, and particularly eThekwini, have so little cash in reserve that they cannot survive for long without regular payments from residents.

eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has said that he would prefer a settlement over going to court.

He has already announced a reduction in the amount residents will pay for electricity, which suggests that the city blinked first.

However, the council that he leads appears to be almost deliberately trying to lose its legitimacy.

In the past few days, it has announced that it wants to spend R11-million on picnics, a hip-hop concert and the “commemoration” of public holidays. This comes after it used a closed council meeting to approve a decision to pay its city manager a salary of R3.9-million.

All of this is on top of the fact that eThekwini has been unable to manage its finances in the past.

Earlier this year, it emerged it had spent R579-million on a lighting project that should have cost R91-million.

It has allowed so much sewage to flow through its rivers that it cannot keep its beaches open.

The provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal is embroiled in a legal dispute with the city over its handling of the matter. In legal papers, the national Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation has accused City Manager Musa Mbhele of not engaging in good faith in his promises to resolve this.

The national government has attempted an intervention, but there is some evidence that Kaunda is pushing back against this.

And if that were not enough, the Auditor-General has slammed the city for mismanagement.

Amid this backdrop, it is no surprise ratepayers believe the money they are paying to eThekwini is being wasted at best and most likely simply stolen. And the more they pay, the more will be stolen.

They are angry. It’s not surprising they have refused to pay any money to the city.

Normally, in the case of a dispute, the court ruling is key. Despite some shortcomings (there can only be a winner and a loser, thus there is little room for negotiation) it is the only way to end a dispute that can be incredibly damaging.

Here, partly because of the impact of a middle-class ratepayers’ boycott on the poor, judges may rule in favour of the city, and say that people must pay what they owe. It is, after all, legally a debt (even if they consume no water and electricity, property owners still have a legal duty to pay their rates).

But, such is the evidence that the city is misspending its money, residents may still refuse to do so.

They will feel that the council has lost its legitimacy. Middle-class public opinion will certainly be with them. Is there anything that Mayor Kaunda can point at to prove that his administration is capable of governing properly?

Residents would feel they have the moral high ground to even defy the court order against their actions.

And if they did, what then?

There would be very few mechanisms to enforce payment. Perhaps the only option would be to get court order after court order to seize movable goods from residents’ homes through the sheriff’s office.

This would be mind-blowingly expensive for a council and would lead to further resistance from residents.

All of this would be watched closely by residents in Nelson Mandela Bay, Joburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Cape Town, Mangaung and many other metros. The future of South Africa, in many ways, may be defined by the local conflict between a corrupt and inept authority and people who are fed up with theft and incompetence. DM

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Poorer residents will suffer