Rising municipal rates could price property owners out of South Africa’s cities

Caripi property When municipalities increase rates uniformly across the board, they assume all property participants have equal resilience.

Every municipal budget is more than just revenue and expenditure, but about who can absorb the rising costs and who cannot.

The South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP) says the annual budget debate usually focuses on whether tariff increases are above inflation, whether a city is “well run,” or whether residents are getting value for money.

“These are legitimate questions, but they avoid a harder question:

This question is not abstract, says Kululwa Muthwa, the CEO at SAIBPP.