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The application by AfriForum to reverse the decision to exempt certain municipalities from the stipulations of the Consumer Protection Act, will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria tomorrow.

The Act, which gives several rights to consumers who do not receive goods or services for which they have paid, would have been a powerful weapon in the hands of taxpayers against non-performing municipalities.
The Act is only applicable, however, to private businesses and high capacity municipalities. The so-called low and medium capacity municipalities are for all practical purposes still exempt from compliance with the Act.

The original application, submitted by AfriForum in September 2011, will be heard by the Court tomorrow, after AfriForum had to force the Minister of Trade and Industry by means of a court order to provide an answer to the application.

The Minister did not react within the prescribed time frame to the original application by AfriForum, and applied for a continuance until 31 October 2011. By 31 October 2013 the Minister had still not responded and merely published a new notice in the Gazette, which was as illegal as the first.

The validity of both notices published by Minister Rob Davies in the Government Gazette, will be tested in court tomorrow.
Proceedings start at 10:00. The court is situated on the corner of Vermeulen and Paul Kruger Streets, Pretoria.