City of Cape Town Deletes ‘Lower Rates’ Claim After ARB Complaint
For Immediate Release
The City of Cape Town has removed its public claim that “lower rates are coming to Cape Town” following a complaint lodged by the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) with the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB).
The essence of the complaint was that the City had misled residents. Property rates are calculated by applying a ‘cents in the rand’ factor to municipal valuations. According to the City’s own figures, valuations were set to increase by an average of 17.1%, while the factor was to be reduced by 10.2%. The City’s communication emphasised the reduction in the factor without explaining the impact of the concurrent increased valuations. Combined with the statement “Lower rates are coming to Cape Town”, this created the dominant impression that rates bills would decrease, when in fact, in most cases, they would actually increase. A screenshot of the now-deleted post is attached.
Prior to lodging its complaint, CIAG conducted a financial analysis (copy attached) of the proposed changes.This analysis indicated that for property values above R550,000, homeowners would face above inflation increases in their rates payments — consistent with what many residents have experienced over the past decade.
The CIAG wrote to the City, addressing correspondence to the Executive Mayor and the Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, provided its analysis, and requested clarification on how the City had arrived at its claims. The City responded initially but did not address the discrepancies raised. A follow-up email was then sent setting out these discrepancies in detail. No further response was received.
The CIAG subsequently lodged a complaint with the ARB, who then upgraded it and formally launched an investigation. In response, the City deleted its claim that “lower rates are coming to Cape Town”. The City has not, however, issued any clarification or correction.
“Deleting a post does not correct the public record,” said CIAG co-founder Phil Craig. “Residents were told that lower rates are coming. If that claim cannot be substantiated, the City should apologise and issue a retraction. It is not acceptable for a sphere of government to mislead ratepayers — seemingly for political gain — and to then brush it under the carpet when challenged.”
CIAG has requested that the ARB require the City to publish a retraction in the same manner and on the same platform as the original claim.
DATE: 20 April 2026
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