“Services have deteriorated to such an extent that residents all over the country say ‘Enough is enough!’ We are not going to live with the general maintenance deteriorating,” said Mr Jaap Kelder of the National Taxpayers’ Union (NTU) on a visit to Louis Trichardt.

“We need not let our country get to the stage of Zimbabwe. If we stand together, we will make this country work again!” Kelder said on April 2 when he addressed the Chairpersons Association (CA) at their annual general meeting. The NTU is not affiliated to any po-litical party. They advise ratepayers to get rid of party politics in local government.

Kelder has visited 240 towns and he found the same problems in every town. The problems include water supply interruptions, serious sewerage problems, problems with roads, waste removal and with the implementation of property rates. Formal disputes have been declared by 40 towns and others are in the process of declaring a dispute.

Residents work on the common law principle that if one party does not perform the other party does not need to perform. Due to the non-performance of a municipality, money is withheld and paid into a trust account. The next step, if a municipality still does not perform to the residents’ satisfaction, is that residents start performing their own services. A following step would be that community-based organisations act as a service provider. Sannieshof was quoted as an example of the latter, where the town has been run by the residents for the past year and the sewerage system has been made 90% functional again.

“We are not going to allow more sewerage into our rivers. The NTU will take over sewerage works. We cannot allow sewerage contamination to continue,” Kelder said. He explained that the situation is serious and that the European Union is contemplating a ban on all products from South Africa because of contamination.

Mr André Naudé, chairperson of the CA, said that it was necessary for ratepayers to stand up for their rights.

“If you don’t make sure that the law is complied with and take the necessary action, you might lose your rights and not regain them,” he said. The CA supported the Soutpansberg Rate Payers Association in the declaration of the dispute against the Makhado Municipality and the withholding of taxes.

Kelder said that the problem was not with the constitution, which is “generally a good one” but with the implementation of the constitution. The SA Local Government Association (SALGA) does, however, not agree with the route taken by frustrated ratepayers to withhold taxes. According to Fin24.com, a SALGA spokesperson said that this posed “a serious threat to service delivery” and called on dissatisfied ratepayers to approach the association to investigate complaints against municipalities that failed to perform.