Ratepayers might face pollution costs too
Mogale City said no such taxes have been drafted in the next budget.
Times Live recently reported that Mogale City is one of the municipalities that might have to pay a big part of the R10-billion bill for countering water pollution caused by acid mine drainage, but Mogale City said no taxes of this kind have been drafted.
According to the article, this was discussed at a City of Johannesburg environment and infrastructure services committee meeting in April.
The paper said a recent estimate has put a R10 billion price tag on the cost of treating the province’s acid mine water to render it relatively harmless. National government is proposing to fund only two-thirds of the project, leaving municipalities like Mogale City to cover the remaining R3,3 billion.
Mogale City Local municipality’s spokesperson, Nkosana Zali, said the draft budget that was placed before the people of Mogale City for comment, does not refer to AMD (acid mine drainage) taxes or such.
“Therefore we will tackle the matter when it is presented to us, and engage residents about as a matter of course,” he said.
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