Deadline for Applying for Rates Rebate Extended to 31 October 2009

CITY OF CAPE TOWN - MEDIA RELEASE - 27 AUGUST 2009

Are you, as property owner, struggling to make ends meet?
Is your current monthly income R8 000 or less and are you older than 60 or disabled?

To provide relief in the current economic climate, when increasingly people are facing the re-possession of essentials such as homes and vehicles, when rising prices of fuel, electricity and food are forcing all but the very rich to cut back on necessities, the City of Cape Town has implemented compassionate policies that will bring some measure of financial aid to those who need it most.

A rates rebate, which is implemented on a sliding scale of 10% - 100% was made available during June 2009 to registered homeowners whose total household income is R8 000 a month or less, where the occupants are aged 60 years or more, or if they are the recipients of a disability pension/grant.

To maximise the benefits of this policy and make sure that enough people know about it, the City has extended the deadline for applications from 31 August to 31 October 2009.

"The City wants to register everyone who qualifies for the rates rebate, so that the relief measures we have put in place can restore their dignity and take away the increasing fear of impending poverty," says Alderman Ian Neilson, Deputy Executive Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Finance.

"We call on community organisations to encourage potential candidates to register with the City," he said. Neilson pointed out, however, that everyone who qualifies for the rates rebate will have to re-register annually and prove that the circumstances which enabled them to benefit from the policy still apply.

“Anyone who turns 60 within the City’s financial year which runs from July 2009 until June 2010 and to whom the other conditions such as income and disability apply, qualifies as a beneficiary of the rebate,” says Trevor Blake, Director: Revenue. “The rebate will however be implemented on a pro rata basis.”

Various rates rebates are also available to bona-fide farming operations, non-government organisations, public benefit organisations, religious organisations, health and welfare institutions, educational institutions, historical monuments, charitable institutions, sporting bodies, cultural institutions, youth development organisations and animal protection organisations.

For more information, please call the City’s Call Centre on 0860 103 089 or visit your nearest municipal office.


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Issued by: Communication Department, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Alderman Ian Neilson Tel: 021 400 1306 or Cell: 083 306 6730

Trevor Blake, Tel: 021 400 9988 or Cell: 084 433 5727