Push for people to back Central rates levy plan

The team behind the proposed Central Special Rating Area (SRA) has signed up 722 property owners in the suburb so far, with 590 more still needed.

To legally constitute an SRA, a majority of 50-plus-one percent of property owners in a specified area is required to consent to its formation, and the levy will then be applicable to all property owners within the area.

A meeting is scheduled for 5pm on Monday to discuss the way forward in terms of reaching the necessary numbers.

Interim SRA spokesperson Cathy Wanvig said they were pushing for a 54.88% consent in case there was an audit or any changes to the figure at a later stage.

“The meeting will be to strategise our final push in getting the numbers. Our time is getting less as everything needs to be finalised before June.”

Wanvig, who works and lives in Central, said they would need to have all paperwork ready before the end of the municipality’s financial year in June.

“But we hope to get the numbers before the end of February. It will then be sent to the municipality for them to decide as they need to approve the business plan for the creation of the SRA.”

She said the SRA was important for Central to preserve the area.

“As a resident I want to live and work in a safe and clean environment, but there is absolute lawlessness right now.

“There are times when it looks clean but also others when it looks horrendous. We want to make this an attractive area to live and work,” she said.

In SA, the SRA concept was first implemented in Cape Town, where the city defined it as a section-21 company that provides top-up services such as security, cleansing and urban management, to those provided by the police and a municipality itself.

The SRA will cover a specific area within which property owners agree to pay a small percentage of monthly rates to a section-21 company as a levy.

If the municipality approves the Central SRA, all property owners in the area – even those who do not support it – would have a levy added to their normal rates bill which would fund the SRA’s work.

This would be calculated as a 12% contribution in addition to current monthly rates.

For example, R22 extra would be charged for a R200,000 property.

“[Central] is not a terrible place,” Wanvig said.

“The crime is localised to specific areas and the SRA would help in this regard.”

She said the SRA would also help residents when dealing with municipal issues.

“We would talk as a collective voice instead of just one resident complaining.”

Four years ago, an SRA was successfully implemented in Richmond Hill, and crime there had been significantly reduced and property values increased, she said.

Property owners agree to pay a small percentage of monthly rates