De Lille’s levy looks dead in the water
• Strong opposition to Cape Town plan to impose drought surcharge
Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille’s plan to introduce a water levy looks likely to fail to take off with many outside and within her party opposing it. De Lille announced late in 2017 that the proposed levy targeting owners of properties valued at R400,000 and more, would be implemented from the beginning of February after going through council and public-participation processes.
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille’s plan to introduce a water levy looks likely to fail to take off, with many outside and within her party opposing it.
De Lille announced late in 2017 that the proposed levy targeting owners of properties valued at R400,000 and above would be implemented at the beginning of February after going through council and public participation processes.
The plan also required the approval of Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.
De Lille said at the time the levy was meant to plug the city’s revenue shortfall of R1.7bn as a result of the drought and lower water usage.
DA Cape metro chairman Grant Twigg said this week the drought levy would create “an undue burden on ratepayers”.
DA provincial chairman Anton Bredell said the party had made a formal submission objecting to the proposed water levy. In its submission, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse said it strongly opposed the imposition of the proposed drought levy and urged the city to engage the Western Cape provincial government and the Department of Water and Sanitation in finding realistic and long-term solutions.
De Lille has this week defied the DA by continuing to lead the city’s response to the crippling drought in the Western Cape.
She had been hauled before the party’s federal disciplinary committee on a number of charges that include maladminstration and ignoring misconduct and tender irregularities. She was, however, allowed to continue carrying out her mayoral duties.
At the weekend, DA leader Mmusi Maimane shifted the council’s response to the crippling drought from De Lille’s office to her deputy, Ian Neilson, and mayoral committee member responsible for water Xanthea Limberg, arguing that since the mayor was involved in disciplinary hearings, she would not be able to give the crucial water effort all her attention.
But a defiant De Lille has continued to lead the city’s response to the drought. She issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Cape Town residents to reduce water consumption to avoid Day Zero, the day on which the city is projected to run out of tap water.
De Lille said she would seek legal advice on the co-ordination of the drought effort being taken away from her. “When we reconstituted council in August 2016, we adopted the executive mayoral system and that is governed by legislation and the law and I will have to look at that and seek legal advice and [then inform] the leadership of the DA whether that [stripping of my powers] can be done.” DA federal chairman James Selfe said De Lille maintained that she was vested with the legal authority to deal with the drought situation.
The party and De Lille “have conflicting legal advice, but we do not think there is an impediment” to stripping De Lille of her powers, he said.