The national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will on Friday, 9 April 2010, conduct a public hearing session at the North West legislature at 09h00 to review the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA), 2004.
The hearings form part of a series of visits to all provinces by COGTA to solicit the views of the public on the MPRA with the intention to amend it where necessary. These hearings are intended to reach out to ordinary ratepayers, ratepayers’ associations, community representatives, farmers, organised business, mining chambers and owners of public service infrastructure to solicit their views and inputs on the current MPRA with the objective of improving it for the benefit of citizens.
The MPRA makes provision for municipalities to value properties in their jurisdictions and impose property taxes to fund the provision of public goods that benefit communities. However, the current MPRA has been inconsistently applied by municipalities, resulting in an inequitable and inefficient implementation.
The practice has left poor households vulnerable to unaffordable taxes and has also resulted in the inequitable treatment of ratepayers in general. The proposed amendments are intended to address inconsistencies and provide for a more equitable, consistent and transparent application of the act.
Contact person:
Ditshaba Makhate
Cell: 082 359 6979
Issued: Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, North West Provincial Government
7 April 2010
