Special Rating Area

The Municipal Property Rates Act 2004 makes provision for the formation of Special Rating Areas (SRAs) for the supply of ‘top-up’ services to an area. There are various requirements that need to be met in order for an SRA to be established. In the context of the eThekwini Municipality, these include:

  • The outside boundary of the SRA must be clearly defined.
  • The area must contain a minimum of 200 properties or a minimum combined total market value of R100 000 000 for all the contained properties.
  • 66 % of all the owners in the area and 51 % by property value must agree to the proposal.
  • The application to launch the SRA must be accompanied by a budget, business plan and implementation programme by no later than 31 January preceding the start of the new municipal year for which the application is being made.
  • A Section 21 company must be established to manage the funds accordingly.
  • There has to be a proven commitment from a dedicated core of the residents to manage the SRA on an ongoing basis.

Whilst there have been numerous SRAs established in South Africa, notably Cape Town’s City Improvement Districts, the GGEP is the first to utilise this legislated tool for environmental management purposes; in the case of the GGEP ‘top-up services’ relate to conservation management services. Spearheaded by proactive members of the Giba community and eThekwini Municipality’s Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department, this Pilot Project aims to develop an effective partnership between citizens and local government to manage a common natural resource. Funds for management activities are raised from private landowners (through an additional levy on their rates) and the municipality, who owns a significant portion of the land in the gorge.

GGEP Ownership

GGEP Ownership

Diagram illustrating budget contributions and flow paths for the GGEP.

In addition to ongoing contributions from the municipality to manage its land, the municipality has agreed to provide co-management funds to help alleviate some of the financial burden on private landowners during the first three years of operations. This proved necessary to secure the majority vote needed to form the SRA. One of the conditions of the Executive Council of the eThekwini Municipality in endorsing this initiative was for a referendum to be held after three years of commencement of operations to confirm whether the majority of landowners would still be in support of the SRA and when co-management funds would be theoretically terminated.