Latest news with #Boere-Afrikaner
The Citizen
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Tshwane to consider demolishing houses in illegal developments
Many cannot be 'regularised' – report. Doomed? Kleinfontein is not among those that can be formalised through the provision of 'services and infrastructure' as it falls outside the urban edge. Picture: Kleinfontein Facebook page One of the options in addressing illegal developments in the City of Tshwane is to demolish these structures, according to a special sub-committee appointed by mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya to deal with the growing problem. These developments mostly comprise luxury houses built on properties that have not been correctly zoned and subdivided, no township establishment has taken place, and building plans have not been approved by the local authority. According to a report by the sub-committee served before the mayoral committee on 18 June, which Moneyweb has seen, more than 10 000 houses may have to be demolished, as they are situated outside the nine 'developments' that the committee says are capable of being regularised. The regularising of the nine 'developments', which collectively have 8 431 illegal structures on them, is still dependent on the availability of engineering services for water, electricity, and other municipal services – and is therefore not a given. ALSO READ: Kleinfontein is not an illegal township, maintains CEO Financial means Whether the City of Tshwane, with its known financial restraints, will have the necessary funds to install such services remains to be seen. The sub-committee hopes to take its proposals to the full city council at the end of July. It was established 'to formulate a standard and fair approach to addressing illegal developments'. Moneyweb earlier reported that multi-million-rand houses are being built in several such 'developments' spread over the city. In one of the Leeuwfontein 'developments' north of Pretoria, plots are openly being sold for as much as R600 000 each, and since last year a new phase has been opened in Haakdoornboom which already boasts several houses. ALSO READ: Kleinfontein can't escape the law any longer 'Illegal properties undermine investments' The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) called for action 'against the growing issue of illegal multi-million-rand property developments in Tshwane' late last year. Neil Gopal, CEO of Sapoa, stated: 'Illegal developments undermine the investments of compliant property owners, who face a range of negative impacts – from declining property values to increased crime rates and service interruptions. We are particularly alarmed at the normalisation of flouting development regulations, which ultimately decreases oversight in property development.' The Tshwane sub-committee identified 17 such developments, including the 'Boere-Afrikaner' community of Kleinfontein, which has been in existence for decades. It comprises at least 600 houses, an old age home, a school and shopping centre. Last year disgruntled residents obtained a high court order that compelled the metro to enforce town planning legislation in Kleinfontein. According to the board that runs Kleinfontein, its applications have been with the council for an extended period with no feedback. The sub-committee, however, reports that it could only find an 'old DFA [Development Facilitation Act] application that they wish to resuscitate'. Kleinfontein is not among those that may be regularised as it falls outside the urban edge, the committee found. ALSO READ: 'Obvious sore point'- EFF to march to exclusive Afrikaner township Kleinfontein Allowing vs erecting The committee distinguishes between those 'developments' where the property owners themselves erect illegal structures and those, such as Kleinfontein and Leeuwfontein, where the owners allow others to erect structures. The illegal structures total almost 20 000 collectively – with only Haakdoornboom, Leeuwfontein 1, 2 and 3, Marula View, Mooikloof, Mashate Gardens, Onderstepoort and one near Prestige College outside Hammanskraal possibly capable of being regularised. Only three of these currently have provision for water and only one for sewerage. Two of these structures can get electricity from Tshwane substations and four are situated in Eskom supply areas. The three Leeuwfontein 'developments' have no bulk services for electricity, but form part of the planned future Roodeplaat primary supply area, according to the report. The sub-committee sets out six options for dealing with the illegal developments: Obtain an eviction order; Application to court for the demolition of illegal structures, which comes with a warning that 'once an order for the demolition of the structures is granted by the court, the municipality does not have a discretion on whether or not to act on that order'; Regularising, which 'would involve formalising the township by providing essential services and infrastructure, and integrating it into the municipal planning framework'; Conducting inspections and issuing compliance notices; Penalties and fines, which 'can serve as a deterrent to prevent future illegal settlements'; and Community engagement 'to understand their needs and [work] towards providing legal housing solutions'. ALSO READ: Exclusive Afrikaner township defends legality after court orders Tshwane to enforce bylaws Increase in rates bill The report mentions the possibility of recategorising the properties where owners themselves erect illegal structures as 'non-permitted use' for the purposes of levying property rates. That comes with a drastic increase in their rates bill. Currently these 'developments' are mostly categorised for agricultural purposes or 'undetermined' with massive underrecovery of rates compared to even residential rates that are payable by compliant home owners. Where owners allow others to erect illegal structures, the city is currently pursuing the criminal prosecution of the 'owners' and applying for interdicts and demolition and the adjustment of their rates, according to the report. It however states that 'challenges are experienced with regard to determining valuations based on illegal land use and the non-permitted use rating'. The report does not expand on the nature of these challenges. Legislation clearly provides for such properties to be valued as if compliant. Tshwane, for example, adjusted the categorisation of some Kleinfontein properties last year, which resulted in the total rates bill for the community increasing from R5 230 in August to R126 148 in September. ALSO READ: Opposition in Tshwane offers 'solution' for Kleinfontein rates problem The board has declared a dispute in this regard. Four of the 17 illegal developments are situated partially or completely on land belonging to the City of Tshwane, three on land belonging to national government, and the rest on private land. The report does not address ways of streamlining and expediting own planning approvals for compliant developers. Dawie Malan, who developed Mooikloof Estates, previously told Moneyweb that established developers don't want to trade in Tshwane any longer due to the difficulty in dealing with the metro and officials whose conduct he describes as obstructive. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
The Citizen
30-04-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Opposition in Tshwane offers ‘solution' for Kleinfontein rates problem
But the law 'doesn't provide for it'. A local authority does not have to wait for the 'opportunity' presented by a review of the valuation roll to adjust the valuation or categorisation of illegal developments. Picture: Kleinfontein Facebook page The Democratic Alliance (DA) has entered the ring in the dispute about the punitive rates the City of Tshwane imposed on the illegal 'Boere-Afrikaner' settlement of Kleinfontein in September last year and underrecovery on other illegal developments in the metro. Moneyweb earlier reported that the property rates of the settlement, which was developed on agricultural land in contravention of town planning laws, were recategorised by the city from 'agriculture' to 'non-permitted use'. The recategorisation means that punitive rates of 7.5 times the residential rate apply, instead of the discounted rates for land used for agricultural purposes that previously applied. In addition, the property valuation has drastically increased in the recently published general valuation roll, which is currently open for objections. The local residents' association has estimated that Kleinfontein's property rates bill on the section of the settlement where the 600-odd houses have been built will increase from R5 230 per month to R126 148 per month. The management of Kleinfontein refers to a 6 000% increase and has lodged a dispute. It has vowed to go to court if unsuccessful. ALSO READ: Tshwane hits Afrikanerdorp Kleinfontein with stiff rates bill Multiple illegal developments Lex Middelberg, member of the city council for the Republican Congress of Tshwane, pointed out in a letter to city manager Johann Mettler that Kleinfontein is but one of at least 19 illegal developments. These are large pieces of agricultural land where luxury houses are being built for profit, without any township establishment or formal subdivision into separate erven. According to an internal council document that Middelberg obtained access to, there are at least 19 500 erven in these 'developments'. The undivided properties are, unlike Kleinfontein, still classified as 'agricultural' and are being billed at discounted rates. ALSO READ: Kleinfontein can't escape the law any longer The DA's solution … Jacqui Uys, DA spokesperson for finance in Tshwane, criticises 'the ANC government' in the city, which she says rejected 'the opportunity to create fair property rates for Kleinfontein and others'. She refers to the council meeting on 24 April, when council failed to deal with a DA motion proposing how to deal with these illegal developments. 'The process of legalising the zoning of these properties is a long road, during which the city has two choices; 1) forfeit rates and taxes from these properties, or 2) charge punitive rates. 'Seemingly, the city has chosen to forfeit rates on some of these developments and to charge punitive rates on others,' says Uys. 'The DA's motion proposed that the city utilise the opportunity presented by the current review of the city's valuation roll to put a value to each of the erven,' she adds. 'The act allows the municipality to put a value to a property even in the absence of correct zoning rights and this approach would have allowed these 19 500 properties to fairly and equally contribute to the city's rates and taxes. 'By not dealing with this motion correctly the ANC forfeited the opportunity to fair payment of rates and taxes by all Tshwane residents.' ALSO READ: Exclusive Afrikaner township defends legality after court orders Tshwane to enforce bylaws DA proposal 'unimplementable' André Zybrands, a professional valuer in private practice, says however that the DA's proposal is unimplementable. The issue is not only that the properties are not used in compliance with their zoning, but that no subdivision has taken place. The Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act authorises the valuation of 'immovable property' for rates purposes – and 'property' is defined as being registered in the deeds office. Because these 'erven' have not been subdivided and individually registered, they cannot be valued individually in terms of the act. Only the undivided property can be valued. Owners of the undivided properties, who are most probably also the developers, remain liable for the rates levied on the whole property – and if they choose to recover rates payments from individual homeowners, it has nothing to do with the council, Zybrands says. He says valuations are normally done on the basis of market value, and the non-compliance would detract from the value. 'Any buyer would incur substantial cost to comply and would take that into account when deciding what [they are] prepared to pay for the property.' ALSO READ: Broke City of Tshwane forfeits billions as illegal developers get free ride The act, however, specifies that property and improvements erected or used in contravention of the permitted use of the property must be valued as if compliant. The valuer has no discretion in this regard. Zybrands says there must be consequences for contravening the law, and that includes being levied on a punitive scale for property rates in this case. He adds that a local authority does not have to wait for the 'opportunity presented by the current review of the city's valuation roll' to adjust the valuation or categorisation of the illegal developments. Corrections to the general valuation roll can be made regularly by way of supplementary valuation rolls. The multi-party coalition under former mayor Cilliers Brink could therefore have done so at any time when they were governing the city, but largely failed to adjust the rates of illegal developments in the city. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
