ANC Mayor Mzwandile Masina must scrap the flawed Ekurhuleni valuation roll

21 October 2021

Today residents of Ekurhuleni and I, handed over a memorandum to ANC Ekurhuleni Mayor, Mzwandile Masina, demanding that the latest property valuation roll be set aside.

See pictures here here here and here

See video here

The valuation roll process was not handled correctly by the contractor awarded the tender and as such, residents of Ekurhuleni are being billed out of their homes with exorbitant rates and taxes based on property values that are in no way a true reflection of market value.

The DA has received thousands of complaints by residents who have indicated that the ANC-led municipality is unwilling to adjust their property values to the correct market value.

The DA has submitted both petitions and motions to Council, however the ANC and their alliance partners have dismissed these off the bat.

Property values in Ekurhuleni are up between 50% to 300%, this includes owners of RDP houses and low-income homes who too are bearing the brunt of this calamitous valuation roll.

Scores of Section 49 notices, that form part of the Municipal Property Rates Act - notices to inform property owners about the increase of property values, were found dumped in open area within Kempton Park.

These letters were recovered by DA Councilors and delivered to the Mayor’s office. To date there has been no word from the Mayor or City Manager to indicate whether these letters were eventually delivered to the homeowners. More than likely, the Mayor and City Mangers silence confirms our suspicions that they were not.

According to the municipality’s Finance Department, the municipality received 47,322 objections of which 10,899 of those are Omission Objections. Objections received excluding omissions amount to 36 423 - this includes both public objections and the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) objections submitted.

The DA believes that the number quoted for omissions is incorrect, as the information we have collected indicates that over 30 000 properties were omitted just in the Northern Region (Bedfordview & Edenvale).

The chaos that this messy valuation process has unleashed on the municipality’s already ailing Finance Department is shocking.

Residents are being billed for property rates in the highest property value brackets. Residents must now apply every 3 months for an extension to pay a reduced rate because 90% of property owners cannot afford to pay these increased rates.

The memorandum by the DA and residents demands that Mayor Masina set aside the current valuation roll, layout a flat rate increase for the balance of this financial year until the process is done correctly and reflects the true value of resident’s homes.

The ANC and its coalition partners in the Metro are hell-bent on destroying not only people’s livelihoods, but also evicting them from their homes by imposing rates that cannot be afforded.

Ekurhuleni residents, the DA is in your corner – fighting for you and your homes. The DA will not rest until this matter is resolved because the DA gets things done.

Issued by Refiloe Nt’sekhe, DA Ekurhuleni Mayoral Candidate, 21 October 2021