comments2

Charné

Yes I do

Service delivery

We cannot be taxed for services not being received. We have no sewage, no road, no side walks, no street lights, no storm water drainage, no nothing, yet Mangaung taxes us.

Hugo

Yes I do

Cost of living

As a retired person, everything is going up immensely every year, except pensions. This is unsustainable in the long run

Karen

Yes I do

Cost of living

THAYALAN

Yes I do

Service delivery

Very poor service delivery. Costs attached to owning a property is ridiculously high. This is an heinous crime against humanity.

Petra

Yes I do

Cost of living

The case for a civil society-led freeze on municipal rates, taxes, and tariffs is built on the urgent need to protect South African households from a "cost-of-living death spiral" caused by failing infrastructure and aggressive municipal over-taxation.

1. The Crisis of Failing Municipalities
Civil society argues that it is unjust to demand higher payments for rapidly deteriorating services.

Fiscal Deficits: 90 South African municipalities (39%) spent more than they generated in 2023-24, resulting in a total local government deficit of R11.29 billion.
Wasted Expenditure: Municipalities have disclosed R81.59 billion in unauthorised expenditure since 2021-22.
Collapse of Basic Services: Residents are increasingly living under the "weight" of sewage spills, water stoppages, and collapsing road networks, yet are expected to fund the very entities failing to manage these crises.
Unfunded Budgets: In the 2023/24 cycle, 113 municipalities adopted unfunded budgets, essentially planning to spend money they did not have.

2. The Burden on Over-Taxed South Africans
Tariff hikes consistently outpace inflation and salary growth, pushing even middle-class households toward financial ruin.

Salary vs. Tariff Gap: Average annual salary growth in South Africa is approximately 5%, while some municipal tariffs have seen increases ranging from 7% up to 17% (and in extreme cases 40%).
Aggressive Electricity Hikes: Eskom’s average standard price of electricity rose from 195.95 c/kWh in 2024/25 to 220.92 c/kWh in April 2025—a trajectory that has seen prices double in just five years.
VAT Pressure: National VAT is scheduled to increase to 15.5% in May 2025 and 16% in April 2026, further eroding disposable income alongside local rate hikes.

Carla

Yes I do

Cost of living

The same property value are increased that relates to higher rates and taxes, whilst our income as pensioners are very limited
The same goes for families with kids that are at school , college or university.
Income does not keep up with the massive burden of paying.
Based on taxation alone one can loose your life-long acquired property in this way.

Heila Magdalena

No I do not

Municipal collapse

What Dr Buthelezi said about the ANC : ‘ They will not neccesesarily Kill you… they’ll TAX you to death!’… That is why I totally resist this law that will kill the Tourism Income & work creation all over South Africa!!!

Thabani

Yes I do

Service delivery

The municipal services have degraded much over the years. The upkeep of the municipal lands and structures is very bad only getting attention when nearing elections.
Many of the citizens have suffered much losses over the past 4 years and many are still recovering from the disturbance of economical instability.
On that note, I move for a freeze municipal rates, taxes and tariffs until the people find their feet, and the municipalities get their houses in order.

Moenieba

Yes I do

Cost of living

Mahlodi

Yes I do

Service delivery

Poor roads maintenance in the city. Florapark has been without water for more than six years. We can’t always rely on water tankers which are not regularly available. Rates and taxes went up but there’s no value for money

U

Yes I do

Service delivery

There's too much corruption, and we are already paying too much rates and taxes.

Government must first eradictae corruption before raising any taxes.

Once corruption is eradicated, we should be paying less taxes, not more.

Corrupt officials must be investigated and when found guilty their estates must be sold and the money must be recuperated into municipality coffers.

Taxes must be used for our benefit, and services must be delivered to the highest standards.

trevor

Yes I do

Other

How can the Chinese bank be exempt from taxing but the tax payer gets more and more "hidden" taxes....NHI, Corruption, Theft by govt officials.

Steven

Yes I do

Service delivery

Service delivery from municipalities is absolutely shocking and non-existent in some areas. Municipalities are riddled with corrupt and incompetent officials who are totally over compensated for their efforts. The bulk of municipal funding is directed at salaries for these useless officials and general workers and thus what is left over is too little for decent service delivery. Add corruption to the equation and you have a recipe for disaster! What's worse still is that they pay themselves handsome bonuses. I say freeze their funding and then maybe they will wake up and realise that their poor performance and corruption are no longer tolerable.

Kenneth

Yes I do

Cost of living

Karl

Yes I do

Cost of living

We are being taxed to death and get nothing fore it but a bloated and breathtakingly incompetent government wither taxes must end or service delivery must take place

Michael

Yes I do

Municipal collapse

Freezing our taxes will make them pay attention to our needs and respect us.

Elize

Yes I do

Cost of living

Due to inept municipalities we have bad service delivery which we are paying a lot for. Infrastructure is falling apart, corruption and favouring of friends happen when it comes to bills, money are not being gathered from people who owe the municipality, electricity theft are not stopped, etc. The economy is staggering under the assault from all sides and we can't make ends meet, yet municipalities and government just want to up what citizens have to pay with little to no regard to keeping their side of the constitutional commitment.

Gwen

Yes I do

Cost of living

Tessa

Yes I do

Cost of living

Stuart

Yes I do

Cost of living