Mpumalanga holds public hearings on Municipal Property
Rates Act review
19 April 2010
The MEC for Mpumalanga Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs,
Norman Mokoena, has today urged the people in the province to seize the
opportunity created by the National Department of Cooperative Governance and
Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) to hold public hearings on the proposed changes to
the current Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA). He said there was a need to
ensure heightened public participation when communities are engaged on issues
that will impact on them. He acknowledged that during the first phase of the
implementation of the MPRA, there we information gaps which affected the
ordinary citizens understanding of the process.
MEC Mokoena further added that there were some problems in relation to
the compilation of valuation rolls by some municipalities. “Some of the valuers
have not done good work, which has affected the quality of the valuation rolls.
In some cases you have a house being valued and categorised as a clinic or a
school and in some instances you have incorrect street names, and registered
property owners not being listed on the valuation roll” said Mokoena.
The MEC was addressing the provincial Traditional Leaders,
farmers’ organizations, ratepayers’ organizations, community leaders, business
and individual ratepayers who attended a highly interactive public hearing in
Nelspruit. The provincial public hearing forms part of the public hearings that
are currently being conducted by CoGTA together with the provincial Cooperative
Governance and Traditional Affairs departments across the country to engage
property owners on the substance of the Act.
The MPRA which became effective in 2005 provides for all
municipalities that have the power to levy rates to value properties and impose
property taxes within their municipal jurisdiction.
Since the implementation of the MPRA,
CoGTA has observed the following critical inconsistencies and weaknesses in the
Act which the department proposes to change:
- Exclusion of poor households from paying the MPRA is
currently at the discretion of the individual municipalities which creates
inconsistencies and leave the poor vulnerable
- The role of the MEC in monitoring the implementation
of the Act by municipalities is not clearly defined in the Act, which leaves
MECs with inadequate tools to intervene in cases where they should.
- The valuation of mining properties has also proven to
be a big challenge for some municipalities. Some municipalities are not sure
whether to consider the above surface improvements of properties relating to
mining activities in their valuations.
The province has received more than 15 000 objections on
the MPRA. Ehlanzeni has the highest number of objections at 9 039, followed by
Nkangala with 3125 and Gert Sibande with 2 875. These objections have largely
been on Market values where properties have either been over valued or
undervalued, wrong categorization of properties where a house is characterized
as a clinic or a church as a business and properties being given wrong street
addresses.
Today's public input on the review process of the MPRA
will be considered when CoGTA prepares the Bill to amend the current Municipal
Property Rates Act. The bill will be submitted to Parliament in September this
year. The public will still have an opportunity to make their inputs when the
Bill is released for public comments.
However, CoGTA will still continue to receive written
public inputs until 03 May 2010 which is a set deadline for written submissions.
These inputs can be forwarded to CoGTA by sending an e-mail to
mpra@cogta.gov.za or fax to (012)
334-4811.
Contact Person:
Simphiwe Kunene
Cell:082 413 3931
