The solar panels went up first. Then the water tanks. In some neighbourhoods came private security, generators, boreholes and, increasingly, private teams to do work residents believe the municipality should already be doing.
None of this looks particularly revolutionary on its own. Together, however, it points to a significant change in the economics of living in South Africa's cities: people are beginning to build private versions of infrastructure that they still pay municipalities to provide.
That creates an awkward bargain: ratepayers make significant private outlays yet continue to face municipal bills that levy full or near-full charges for the very services they are now privately funding.
A household, for instance, may pay municipal rates and service charges, then spend tens of thousands of rand on solar panels and batteries because it cannot rely entirely on the electricity supply. A business may install backup water systems because interruptions threaten its operations. Residents' associations may raise money to keep public spaces clean.
Andile Magiba, a real estate investment professional raised this issue in a recent LinkedIn article, arguing that there is a limit to how much property owners can pay for services that they are increasingly required to provide themselves.
He noted that while municipalities claim to be spending on services, the important question is whether that expenditure becomes visible, functioning infrastructure.
“National Treasury reported that South African municipalities budgeted R38.3 billion for asset repairs and maintenance in 2025/26, increasing to R40.6 billion in 2026/27.”
He added that municipalities cannot tax their way out of infrastructure failure and ratepayers are becoming weary of tariff increases every year.
“Property owners are not opposed to paying rates. They are opposed to paying more while receiving less.”
eThekwini Metro problems
In the eThekwini Metro, proposed tariff increases for rates, water, electricity and sanitation were all reduced in the City's final budget for the 2026/27 financial year after vocal opposition from ratepayer groups. The final increases included 12% for domestic water, 8% for domestic sanitation, 2% for average property rates, 9.5% for refuse and 9% for electricity.
Ish Prahladh, president of eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association, said apart from ratepayers investing in solar panels and Jojo tanks for sustainable electricity and water supply, they were also providing monetary assistance so that ratepayer groups can employ workers to keep their areas clean.
He said in this situation the current tariffs charged by the municipality were “ridiculous because you are paying for services that you don’t get”.
There is a striking tension in the city’s own budget. During discussions over the draft budget, Prahladh raised concerns about water losses and called for more effective maintenance. Yet eThekwini’s budget documents show substantial allocations to the infrastructure needed to address those problems: R3bn for wastewater treatment upgrades and expansion, R1.7bn for water-loss reduction and pipe replacement, and R2.4bn for electricity infrastructure in 2026/27.
The issue, then, is not simply whether money is being spent. It is whether that spending is translating into infrastructure that residents can actually rely on.
Cape Town ratepayers
The City of Cape Town offers a different version of the same pressure. There ratepayers have also recently questioned tariff charges which led to the announcement of rates relief measures.
Grant Smee, the CEO at Only Realty Property Group said Cape Town's new rates relief measures come after months of pressure over municipal bills that many middle-class homeowners say have risen far faster than inflation.
He said for the 2026/27 financial year, homes valued up to R8 million will now have the first R620 000 of their property value excluded from rates, up from R450 000 previously. Low-income households and pensioners may also qualify for additional support, he said.
“Whether this is a response to the string of bad press facing the City of Cape Town, or a strategic move with the elections creeping closer, it is still a meaningful concession.
"But the City also knows where it has an advantage: for many residents, the final measure of value is not only what appears on the bill, but whether that bill is matched by reliable service delivery.”
Rates are not simply another household expense. They are the price residents pay for belonging to a municipal system. When that system works, the transaction is largely invisible. Water arrives, rubbish disappears, roads are maintained, electricity networks function and sewage is treated.
When it does not, the bill becomes much harder to ignore.
The cost of resilience
Private resilience has its limits. A solar panel can keep a house running; it cannot maintain the grid. A water tank can protect one household; it cannot replace a city's pipes. There are residents who can buy their way around unreliable services, but how many of them will eventually feel they have to?
Magiba's argument goes further. He says infrastructure failure does not make the underlying cost disappear. It shifts that cost onto property owners, potentially raising the cost of occupation for tenants, contributing to vacancies and weakening property values and, ultimately, the municipal revenue base.
That matters beyond the ratepayer and to the economy.
Addressing the Black Business Summit 2026 at the Radisson Hotel OR Tambo and Convention Centre in Kempton Park during the past week, Velenkosini Hlabisa, Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, made much the same point from the perspective of business.
He said it is impossible to build a strong local economy without functional municipalities. "A municipality must tbe more than an institution that processes applications and delivers services. It must be an active partner in creating an environment where businesses can establish, grow and create employment.
Businesses, he said, need certainty. “They need functioning infrastructure, reliable basic services, responsive local government and an administration that understands that every decision it makes can either enable or constrain economic activity."
The minister said this requires leadership that is competent, accountable and decisive, councillors who understand their responsibilities, and professional officials with the competence and capacity to manage public resources and deliver effectively.
He added that where municipalities are stable, well governed and properly managed, they create confidence. “That confidence encourages investment, strengthens local businesses and opens pathways for economic participation, particularly for small and emerging enterprises.”
“When government and business work together, and when municipalities create the right conditions, local economies can move from surviving to thriving. A municipality that works is not simply delivering services, it is creating the platform on which businesses, jobs and communities can grow,” Hlabisa said.
For Hlabisa, the issue is ultimately economic: a municipality that works creates the conditions for businesses, jobs and communities to grow.
given.majola@nationalmg.co.za