Latest news with #DepartmentofEconomicDevelopmentandSpatialPlanning
The Citizen
5 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Tshwane slaps 713 properties with penalty rates over illegal land use
In a bid to ensure the legal use of land, the metro has referred over 700 properties for penalty rates and taxes. Sarah Mabotsa, MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning, said the suburbs where the illegal land use activities have been identified range from Arcadia to Zwavelpoort. 'The non-permitted land use activities range from unauthorised commercial activities in residential zones, through to illegal construction and land encroachments. The implications of these violations on the city and its residents are significant, as they can lead to loss of revenue, inability to access critical servitudes, offer unfair land-use activity and commercial advantages to transgressors.' They can also increase the costs of policing for the city, and have potential safety and legal liabilities.' The areas or farms she listed include: – Alphenpark – Annlin – Arcadia – Ashlea Gardens – Atteridgeville – Bon Accord – Booysens – Brooklyn – Capital Park – De Onderstepoort – Derdepoort – Die Wilgers – Eersterust – Elandsfontein – Eldoraigne – Ga-Rankuwa – Garsfontein – Haakdoornboom – Hartebeesfontein – Hazelwood – Kameeldrift – Kleinfontein – Kudube – Laudium – Magalieskruin – Montana – Moreletapark – Olievenhoutsbos – Onderstepoort – Pretoria Central – Pretoria North – Silverton – Sinoville – Soshanguve – Sunnyside – The Reeds – The Willows – Waterkloof – Witfontein – Zwavelpoort She highlighted the financial magnitude of the properties under scrutiny, saying: 'The 713 properties have a combined municipal value of almost R1.4-billion, with the average property value being R1.9-million.' She explained that township establishment laws are designed to prevent chaotic urban sprawl and ensure that the city infrastructure keeps pace with development. 'For example, when an estate is established legally, the developers contribute to the cost of expanding roads, water, sewage and electricity services. Those costs are then passed on to property purchasers. When a development happens illegally, developer contributions could unfairly be expected to be paid for by all other ratepayers. Illegal developments can also place too much strain on available electricity or other services in an area,' she explained. This comes after the recent report tabled and approved by the metro, listing the properties that have been referred by the Department of Economic Development and Spatial Planning to the finance department for implementation of penalty rates and taxes. 713 properties worth R1.357 billion have been referred for penalty rates & taxes for illegal land use activity. — City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) July 3, 2025 She emphasised that several properties or farms relate to illegal township developments where landowners have not adhered to development planning laws and regulations. 'The city's Department of Economic Development and Spatial Planning Department's Built Environment and Enforcement Division receives numerous complaints related to contraventions of zoning, national building regulations and the city's outdoor advertising by-law. The recommendation to implement nonpermitted land-use rates is one mechanism we use to encourage landowners engaged in non-compliant land-use activities to correct their actions,' she said. She added that the equitable enforcement of laws is a priority to help curb the illegal use of land. 'We want our city to be safe, clean and work for everyone. I thank our law-abiding developers and property owners who work with the city and within the national building codes to ensure that land use activities are compliant and that buildings are safe for people to use and occupy.' She encouraged the legal development processes as they protect homeowners and residents. 'The processes ensure that homes are built on stable land and not in environmentally vulnerable areas. In some illegal estates, there has also been no formal subdivision of the land. This means that purchasers in illegal estates may not actually own the land that they live on,' she said. LISTEN: Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
11-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
City of Tshwane saves millions by insourcing construction services
The City of Tshwane will save millions of rand in architectural fees by outsourcing these services for projects like the building of the Lusaka Clinic in Mamelodi. Image: Supplied In a bid to save the City of Tshwane millions of rand, the multiparty Mayoral Committee has approved a proposal mandating all city construction projects to utilise the city's internal professional services, which are part of the Physical Development Services section within the Department of Economic Development and Spatial Planning. 'The insourcing of these services for new building design projects, alterations, additions, and as-built documentation has already begun to save the City of Tshwane millions of rand in fees that would otherwise have been outsourced,' Councillor Sarah Mabotsa said. She added that the Physical Development Services of the Department of Economic Development and Spatial Planning is staffed by qualified architectural professionals, quantity surveyors, and building works inspectors. They are equipped to manage projects from inception through to completion. She explained that until now, some city departments have contracted these services externally, resulting in high consultant costs for the city and often leading to inconsistent quality and misalignment with city-wide standards. 'By insourcing these services, the City of Tshwane will reduce expenditure and also ensure standardised project quality and protect municipal interests,' Mabotsa said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading According to her, savings of about 10% to 20% on external consulting fees are typically achieved on smaller projects of up to R500,000 in value, and on larger projects (of R20 million or more), savings are usually between 7% and 15% of the project cost. 'This insourcing has already saved the city R16.6 million on recent projects. The initiative to mandate insourcing of these services going forward will save the city many more millions,' she said. For the projects of the Stinkwater Social Development Centre (a R51 million project), Gazankulu Clinic (a R26.5 million project), Rayton Clinic (a R24 million project) and the Soshanguve Clinic (a R18.5 million project), architect fees of R3.6 million, R1.9 million, R1.7 million and R1.5 million were saved on each project respectively. Other projects under way or in planning, which the Physical Development Services section is assisting with, like the R50 million Mabopane Social Development Service and R61 million Lusaka Clinic, will see savings in architectural fees of R3.5 million and R4.4 million respectively. 'Doing our work faster and at less cost to ratepayers means that we reduce our spending and can do more with our available budgets,' Mabotsa said.
