Chair, our take on this as the ACDP is that this Bill will allow municipalities to continue to use valuation rolls in their budgeting estimates which, in fact, are outdated in terms of the requirements of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act, that is, the legislature is extending a lifeline to the many municipalities which have not updated their rolls for property revaluations.
The ACDP congratulates the City of Cape Town in this regard as they have already begun a second valuation process. Stalling this process means that municipalities cannot get revenue they should be getting and cannot budget accordingly. This is critical as it delays new infrastructure and compromises service delivery.
Revaluing is both technically and administratively tricky, and a municipality has to meet a number of criteria. For obvious reasons, homeowners who do not intend selling are disgruntled over revaluations because they pay more property tax. So a municipality must do it correctly or face challenges from ratepayers' associations and the like. Of course, just because one's house has increased in value doesn't mean one's income has increased to enable one to pay more. This becomes a problem, particularly in the wake of a property price boom, such as what South Africa experienced prior to two years ago.
This Bill appears to be a straightforward amendment. Fortunately, for the ANC - I don't know if you would have a quorum if you were challenged - the ACDP will support the Bill as there are no serious contentions or concerns raised by stakeholders. Thank you.