THE Westville Ratepayers’ Association, now known as the eThekwini Ratepayers’ Protest Movement (ERPM), has outlined their plan following their loss in court against their legal dispute with the eThekwini Municipality.

The ratepayers have been in a lengthy dispute with the City from the beginning of the year when the tariff increase was announced. The dispute was against the tariff increase which the ratepayers objected to. This was followed by a boycott, and they finally went head-on with the City in the Durban High Court.

Also read: eThekwini Municipality wins case against ratepayers

The court application was to interdict the City from disconnecting services of customers who had joined the rates boycott.

Prior to the court case, the ratepayers had written a series of letters to the mayor, demanding to meet with his office. The mayor then embarked on meetings with the ratepayers’ association across the city, starting with the Westville Ratepayers.

The association said they will be embarking on the following in the next few days to come:

1. We will launch a complete judicial review application IN TERMS OF OUR 102.2 DISPUTE.
2. We have requested an urgent meeting with the Auditor General so we can solidify avenues to create ratepayer oversight roles.
3. We will be conducting oversight visits at the municipal centres across the city to ensure monitoring and evaluation of performance so that our residents receive the best possible service.

Also read: Ratepayers await judgment in court case with the City

4. We will be meeting every department head from Water and Sanitation, Electricity, Revenue Management, etc, to overhaul service delivery.
5. We will continue our work to help the widows, pensioners and oppressed voiceless who are truly indebted and indigent.

The ratepayers further highlighted that November 17 was the last day for them to have lodged an appeal on the judgment. “ERPM has sought advice from many senior counsels regarding the possible appeal. The overriding decision to proceed was reliant on one factor: What outcome did we want to achieve? Our ultimate goal was to challenge the credit control policy under Section 102. Our rights as ratepayers have been infringed upon. Our right to dispute has been tainted by the manner in which disputes are processed and decided upon,” they stated.

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