Pretoria residents can breathe a sigh of relief after the High Court ruled that the metro must immediately stop charging the controversial city cleansing levy.

Residents who have already paid will also be refunded, following AfriForum’s successful application.

In an important update on the preliminary judgment by the Gauteng High Court handed down in favour of AfriForum, it was stated that the metro cannot implement the city cleansing levy while the case is pending in the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Arno Roodt, AfriForum’s district co-ordinator for Greater Pretoria South, said they will prepare councillors to assist residents with the repayment process.

“The ruling gives residents legal certainty while the city’s appeal process continues,” he said.

He explained that the fight began when AfriForum challenged the metro over what it argued was an unlawful levy.

“We took the city to court about the city cleansing levy, and initially we won that case,” Roodt said.

“The court said that this levy is illegal, that the city is not allowed to charge it, and that it needs to be repaid.”

The metro appealed the ruling, which automatically suspended the initial court order. It lost the first appeal, then launched a second one.

However, while an appeal is pending, the metro is normally allowed to continue business as usual, which Roodt said created confusion for residents.

“When you appeal a judgment, it suspends the judgment. That means the court order is not in effect during the appeal. So the metro started issuing the levy again.”

AfriForum then approached the courts with what is known as a Section 18(3) application, which can force a court order to be implemented immediately, even while an appeal is underway.

“This allows, in exceptional circumstances, for the reverse to happen,” he explained.

“It means that although we are waiting for the appeal outcome, the metro must implement the court order now.”

Roodt said the ruling means two things must happen without delay.

“Firstly, they must stop levying the city cleansing levy completely. They are not allowed to do that at all. And secondly, they must repay everyone who has already paid this levy.”

He stated that AfriForum believes the metro has no grounds for its appeal, and the High Court has already agreed there is no merit in the metro’s arguments.

The organisation said the appeal process could take months or even years, but the interim court ruling protects residents.

“In the meantime, our court victory ensured that the city is not allowed to charge residents, and they must repay that money,” Roodt said.

“This provides legal certainty to Tshwane residents. They don’t need to lodge new disputes or jump through administrative hoops.”

Roodt added that the High Court criticised the municipality’s behaviour strongly.

“The court again gave a very scathing judgment. It said that the metro’s conduct was exceptional and contrary to its constitutional duty.

“It even handed down a punitive cost order on a higher scale.”

According to Roodt, the ruling shows that the metro was in the wrong and acted unlawfully, adding that the metro has been instructed to correct residents’ accounts before the end of the next billing cycle.

Roodt added that the responsibility lies squarely with the metro.

“They must re-credit every account themselves. They cannot force people to resubmit disputes or go through the nonsense they tried in the first round.

“It is their job; they need to fix it. And if they don’t, we are going back to court.”

He said AfriForum will continue to protect Pretoria residents’ rights until the matter is fully resolved.

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