By Neelam Rahim

There is a relief for Johannesburg schools after Mayor Mpho Phalatse announced this morning that it would increase schools’ rates by 5 per cent and not business classification rates. The City’s 741 private and 921 public schools were reeling as the new financial year saw the amended Municipal Property Rates Act. The education classification that applied to schools was scrapped, which saw them hit with rates bills about six times higher than their June bills and private schools forking out more than ten times their previous rate.

In a discussion with Radio Islam International Johannesburg MMC for Finance, Julie Suddaby said in 2014, the national ministry of co-operative governance and COGTA removed quite a few sub-categories of properties. They gave a prescribed list of property categories allowed to be used. Section 93b gave municipalities seven years to implement these new categories that the nation COGTA had decided upon.

She says in October of 2021 national COGTA wrote a letter to the City of Johannesburg saying that we were continuing to be non-compliant in the space. While requesting COGTA to keep education and several other sub-categories, we received a final rejection letter on the 10 of March 2022.

“COGTA said private schools must be categorised as business and commercial properties, and public schools must be categorised as public services. That is why the re-categorisation was done.”

Click the link for the full interview.