Cape Town motorists could soon be hit with a 69% hike in parking fees if the city has its way.
A tariffs and charges proposal document for the 2017/2018 financial year that was tabled before the city’s transport and urban development committee this week classified Sea Point‚ Claremont and Tygervalley as “high demand areas”.
Depending on the input from the public‚ these areas could be slapped with the astronomical fees increase by the July 1.
“The 2016/17 tariffs limited high demand areas (which is linked to higher parking fees) to the Cape Town CBD. However‚ recent surveys and analysis shows that the following other areas must also be classified high demand areas because they have similar or higher levels of parking demand than the CBD: Sea Point‚ Claremont and Tygervalley‚” the document reads.
The committee recommended that the tariffs be advertised‚ “as legally required”‚ for public comment.
Councillor Brett Herron‚ responsible for transport and urban development‚ said the proposals are in line with city’s parking policy. Herron said they will only come into effect after “a period of public consultation and if approved by full council in May”.
“The policy states that parking tariffs must support the city’s travel demand management strategy‚ thus‚ the tariffs should motivate residents to rather make use of public transport so that the dependency on private cars can be reduced‚” said Herron.
“This means that the parking tariff for on-street parking should deter motorists from parking for long periods in areas where there is a high demand for parking such as the CBD.”
But the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry is not impressed. Janine Myburgh‚ president of the chamber‚ said they believed that it was time the city worked on cutting its own costs “rather than simply increasing fees and tariffs”.
"If this is correct it's an absolute shocker‚" said Myburgh. "When last did the Council increase any fee by the inflation rate or less? I can't remember. We've had years of increases in rates and tariffs that have been well above the inflation rate. It can't go on."
Myburgh said the city should “understand that ordinary South Africans simply could not afford to cough up every time the council wanted more money.
"We've had tax increases‚ increases in the fuel levy and now they dare to talk about a 69% increase in parking fees. Don't the councillors understand that these increases hurt?"
She said it was difficult to understand the reasoning. Adding that Cape Town has “a massive traffic congestion problem and the Council should be trying to encourage decentralisation”.
"We need to grow the businesses in the suburbs because this takes pressure off the traffic heading to the CBD and jamming Nelson Mandela Boulevard solid every rush hour.
"The explanation that Sea Point‚ Claremont and Bellville are high demand areas is simply not good enough‚" she said.
- TMG Digital/The Times
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