The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) called on municipalities countrywide to reduce property rates during the lockdown.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant financial impact on businesses and individuals and will continue to do so for several months to come. Municipalities around the country have the ability to assist South Africans financially by cutting or reducing property rates on their municipal bill,” said OUTA’s strategy and organisation development head, Julius Kleynhans.
According to Kleynhans, the temporary relief the organisation is petitioning for is contained in the Local Government Municipal Property Rates Act 6 of 2004.
ALSO READ: Durban has plans for permanent solution for its homeless, says Deputy Mayor
“Thousands of people have lost their jobs, or a significant part of their income, and not all property owners can afford to keep paying property rates due to the unexpected economic fallout of Covid-19. We have received calls from people who literally have to choose between keeping food on their tables or paying property rates,” he said.
According to the Local Government Municipal Property Rates Act 6 of 2004, municipalities have the mandate to bring relief to its residents by form of exemptions, reductions and rebates on property rates as per section 15 (1) and (2) of the Act.
“This section expressly permits exemption and reductions within an area affected by a disaster within the meaning of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, Act 57 of 2002,” said Kleynhans.
OUTA has called on residents and businesses to support the project by signing and sharing the petition that is available on its website and social media pages.
The petition will close on Wednesday, 20 May, and will be submitted to municipalities countrywide.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
