The City of Cape Town has until Friday to respond to a call to scrap its proposed drought levy or face court action.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) says a decision to charge an additional levy for water is illegal. It has written to the city citing its concerns.
The additional levy was introduced following a council meeting at the beginning of the month. It will be based on property value rather than water consumption.
The city says the revenue will be used to fund new water projects.
Residents have until January 12 to comment on the levy.
OUTA’s portfolio manager for water, Julius Kleynhans, says: “We believe its just another punitive tact. If they don’t do that we will see them in court to stop this, because it’s supposed to go through national Treasury, because its a tax, its not just a levy.”
‘At the end of the day we also want to force the Department of Water and Sanitation to actually do the water supply. Its not the job of the city to do that,” adds Kleynhans.
