Broaden the rates base and fresh new takes on the state of Israel

Time to broaden the municipal rates base

The DA in eThekwini has formally called for a report from the Municipality’s Legal and Compliance Unit to the Finance Committee on the status of the High Court application concerning the levying of rates on land owned by the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB).

This request was made during the meeting of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (Mpac) on May 6, 2025.

At a prior Mpac meeting on March 13, 2025, when the issue of outstanding rates claimed from the ITB was raised, it was revealed that the ITB had taken the view that responsibility for the rates should fall either on the Traditional Councils occupying the land or the Department of Land Affairs.

The Department had, in other municipalities, paid rates on such land and was thus expected to do the same in eThekwini. It was also reported that the Municipality had approached the High Court to obtain a declaratory order to determine which of these parties, the ITB, the Department of Land Affairs, or the Traditional Councils, should be liable for these rates.

The DA has now requested that the Legal and Compliance Unit submit a full report to the Finance Committee, detailing the positions and arguments of all parties involved in the litigation.

It is critical to note that eThekwini Municipality currently bears the costs of infrastructure development and maintenance in these areas, this includes roads, water networks, and electricity supply, despite receiving no rates revenue from the ITB properties that benefit from these services.

The DA remains concerned that the Municipality’s rates base is not broad enough to support the equitable delivery of services across the metro. A large proportion of the municipality consists of rural and peri-urban areas, which places strain on municipal resources.

More than five years ago, the Municipality resolved to introduce a flat monthly rate of R100 on properties in these rural and peri-urban zones.

However, the implementation of this decision has continually stalled due to administrative and logistical difficulties.

In the interests of transparency and fairness to the ratepayers who do contribute to the municipal fiscus, the DA calls on the Municipality to clarify its position and demonstrate genuine intent to integrate ITB land into the formal rates base. | Councillor Warren Burne DA eThekwini Councillor

Let’s be clear about Israel conflict

Israel’s borders were defined in 1920 at San Remo, when the British Mandate for Palestine was created as the reconstituted homeland of the Jews.

In 1922, the League of Nations ratified the San Remo accords.

In 1923, Britain severed 78% of the mandate to create Transjordan.

In 1945, article 80 of the UN charter solidified that what was promised the Jews could not be over-ridden.

The 1947 UN partition plan (resolution 181) was a recommendation to split the mandate between Jews and Arabs. The Zionists agreed, but the Arabs, under the leadership of Nazi War criminal, Haj Amin al-Husseini, refused and launched a war to “drive the Jews into the sea”.

Five Arab armies joined in. They failed. Their humiliation was a “Nakba” – a catastrophe.

The advancing armies had demanded the Arab residents leave so they could blast the Jews away. The leaders promised they would soon return and take over. The armies spread the story of a Jewish massacre at Deir Yassin, which never happened, but it struck terror into the population and 700 000 residents fled into neighbouring countries.

Islamists have turned history on its head.

They claim the Zionists forced out the 700 000 Arabs, precipitating the war, when in truth, it was the war that created the refugee migration.

Fighting lasted from 1947 to 1949, ending with an armistice. Jordan and Egypt illegally occupied Judea, Samaria and Gaza. 30 000 Jews were killed or forced out of these areas, their synagogues destroyed and their properties turned over to Arab squatters.

Israel recaptured the area in 1967 and offered to make peace, but Arab leaders in Khartoum vowed ‘no peace, no negotiations and no recognition of Israel’. | Len Bennett Ottawa, Canada

We have all been missing the point

The war in Gaza has been polarising. We’ve seen it on Piers Morgan’s show, on Al Jazeera, SABC and CNN, to name but a few.

I have come to the conclusion that all this bickering about who is right and who is wrong has less to do with land and more to do with who the true Israel really is.

As a Christian, I always believed that Israel was a chosen nation of people meant to reflect God to the world and to have dominion over the earth, but it h as taken until now for me to take the time to reflect, and ask myself who the people of Israel really are.

We all have these assumptions of who God’s chosen people are, yet we never question what the purpose was of God creating man, and woman in His likeness?

Was it to see who would over-power who over a piece of land?

I don’t think so. Think a bit deeper!

Then there’s the issue of what it means to be a Jew, or a Gentile. In the Old Testament, the Jews were the ones who, by birthright, automatically qualified as God’s people, yet their hearts were filled with bitterness, like a stone. They lacked having a true relationship with God and got caught up in activities, much like some religions today require of their followers. Thus, the birth and the life of Jesus, the Messiah – God’s one and only Son, brought about a massive change.

Some would call it “going against the grain”, but He had truly flipped the script, which He did by performing miracles, challenging the so-called Biblical experts, the Pharisees and Saducees, by answering their most difficult questions, with His own questions.

This caused a huge rift among the people of the time, and even today, we have Jews living in Israel who still hold onto the idea of an Almighty God, yet, do not believe, like many today, that Jesus is the Messiah. They still believe in old Testament rituals and earning their way to the Father, through works.

While we argue about Israel “stealing” land in Gaza and committing “genocide”, have we ever asked if Israel was really only established in 1948, or have they always been God’s chosen people?

The answer is that it is not the people who physically live in Israel, but all those who believe in God the Father and have acknowledged the Son, Jesus Christ, as Saviour.

We are fixating on a people who occupy land in the Middle East, while God has been trying to teach us that only through a relationship with Him we can be saved.

The Israel that we read about in the Word of God is not modern-day Israel, but those who believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. | L Oosthuizen Durban

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