The City of Tshwane has launched a “Black Friday sale” to encourage residents with outstanding bills to settle their accounts.
Residents and businesses in Tshwane can get a 100% discount on interest charges by settling their accounts between 1 and 30 November 2025, the city said.
To take advantage of the deal, residents and businesses are directed to their nearest municipal office, or to email [email protected] or [email protected].
The city is offering the Black Friday special as a carrot to debtors, but has also made it clear that it is not afraid to bring the stick.
Every month, the city’s revenue recovery operations are out in full force, going after residents and businesses that owe millions in unpaid bills.
According to the city mayor, Nasiphi Moya, the city has recovered just under R40 million from debtors in November so far, following a massive R4 billion collection in October.
Moya noted that the city has made further arrangements with 131 accounts to collect another R8.7 million.
“We are determined to increase the city’s revenue collection, particularly following an upbeat performance in October,” she said.
The R4 billion collection in October has largely been attributed to the implementation of the city’s “cleaning levy”, which has been successfully challenged in court but now awaits an appeal process.
The R200 levy was declared invalid through a court challenge brought by lobby group, Afriforum.
The levy is charged to residents and businesses using private refuse collection services instead of the city’s municipal services.
The city has defended the levy, arguing that it is necessary so that these accounts still pay the costs of other refuse processing services, outside of just collection.
However, opponents of the levy claim that it amounts to double taxation as they are ostensibly paying for a service that normal rates and taxes are already supposed to cover.
The latter position has convinced the courts.
Big risks to the budget
The levy was implemented in July, but following the court ruling, the charges were credited in August and September.
Following an application by the city to appeal the ruling—which allowed the city to continue with the levy—all credited charges were re-added to bills in October.
In some cases, this saw bills more than double, resulting in the R4 billion October haul.
In addition, thousands of accounts—mainly in sectional titles and community schemes—were charged the levy when it should not have applied.
The city said these matters have now been cleared.
However, the city now sits with a huge risk on its books. If the Supreme Court of Appeal affirms the High Court ruling and sets aside the levy, the city’s revenue will have to be written back to the accounts of consumers, which would make its R4 billion haul moot.
The city faces even more budgetary constraints following a decision by the SA Local Government Bargaining Council to award backdated salary increases to officials of the City of Tshwane.
Earlier this year, the City of Tshwane won a case in the Labour Court against paying 5.6% salary increases for the 2023/24 financial year on the grounds of affordability.
The Court held that the Bargaining Council had misdirected itself in finding that Tshwane could afford to pay these increases.
In the same judgment, the Labour Court also made a decision about a 2021/22 application to be exempted from paying salary increases of 3.5% in that year.
The court remitted the decision about the 2021/22 increases back to the Bargaining Council, which in 2022 refused to hear the city’s case.
Last week, the Bargaining Council returned its verdict, rejecting the city’s exemption application, meaning that the city will have to pay backdated salary increases of 3.5%.
The city said it would not appeal the decision.
The implications of that choice are that the city now needs to find an extra R2 billion or so in the next six months to cover the added expenses.
It said it would engage with labour to determine a path forward.
In the meantime, the city will continue to encourage residents and businesses to pay their bills—questionable cleaning levy included—and pursue those who are in arrears.
