This past Friday, I held a meeting alongside the City Manager, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni, officials from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), the City’s
Disaster Management Centre, Social Development and Group Risk and Advisory Services departments and City entities in order to examine the City’s progress in addressing the impact of a violent storm which caused significant damage to property during late December.
Following the storm, I had committed to launching a full investigation which would establish whether the construction of the worst affected homes was up to the appropriate standard. As part of that investigation, GRAS is charged with:
• Establishing the identities of contractors involved in the construction of some of these buildings;
• The City’s role in issuing certificates of occupation which affirm the safety of these buildings; and
• The role of financial institutions, such as lenders and banks, who fund the construction of some of these buildings.
On Friday, I met with stakeholders both within and outside the City in order to provide a progress report on the investigation. At this stage, GRAS has already tendered provisional findings to my office, which include:
Developers not registered with National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
In terms of Section 10 of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, any person in the business of home building is required by law to register with the NHBRC. Failure to do so is an offence which, upon conviction, is punishable with a fine of up to R25 000 or a one-year prison term on each charge.
During its investigation, GRAS found that among the two developers responsible for housing construction in the affected areas, one was not registered with the regulatory body.
The possible implications of this is not only the alleged non-compliance with Section 10 of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act but the alleged questionable building standards used at some of the affected properties.
The City is now in the process of addressing the matter with the NHBRC who carries the duty of ensuring that these developers registered.
Poor record keeping at City’s Building Development Management (BDM)
GRAS noted that there was no proper filing system at the Building Development Management resulting in challenges to produce records timeously.
Incomplete applications for approval of building plans
During the review of BDM’s approval of building plans, GRAS found instances where incomplete application forms were accepted and captured into the City’s system.
No proof of home pre-inspection during the construction of some properties within files
The Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act of 1998 makes provision for the inspection of properties whilst in construction, so as to ensure proper quality control.
When perusing files in relation to the violent storm in, it was noted that there were no reports or photos in the files as proof that inspectors had visited the site or conducted the
following inspections, prior to the commencement of the construction and during its construction process:
• Trench / Foundation Inspection – prior to concrete being poured.
• Wall / Structure Inspections – at floor level, lintel height and roof level.
• Drain Inspection – before connection to the municipal water / sewerage system and prior to infilling.
• Concrete Slab inspection (if applicable) – before concrete poured.
• Roof Inspection.
Incomplete files
Instances where some of the files had no record of the date on which the application for the approval of the plan was submitted.
No consistency in the dates of plan approvals in relation to the occupancy certificates
GRAS found that a date for the planned approval on an occupancy certificate differed with the approval date by the Chief Plan Examiner in their respective files.
Stand number with two different plan approval dates
During the investigation of the sample files presented for audit, GRAS found instances where the approved plans had two different dates.
No certificates of occupancy in Lufhereng property files
With respect to files for properties identified by GRAS for the area of Lufhereng, all the identified houses had no certificate of occupancy in their files.
Dates on certificates of occupancy differ from stamps issuing said certificates
GRAS noted that the dates at which inspectors have issued the certificates of occupancy differ with official stamps on the documents, making it difficult to establish the correct date at which the certificates of occupancy were issued.
To this end, GRAS has already instructed the City’s Building Development Management and the Housing Department to put in place measures to immediately rectify deficiencies which were identified during the investigation.
In addition to this, I have also been notified of GRAS’s intention to approach banks linked to the investigation following the independent structural engineers submitting their final report on the affected properties.
In the coming week, I expect to also receive a report from independent structural engineers and quantity surveyors overseeing aspects of the investigation.
Also discussed during the meeting were the following:
Grant funding
Following the City’s declaration of a state of disaster, we concluded a business plan which was submitted to Provincial and National Disaster Management Centres and National
Treasury for access to municipal disaster grants.
This is grant money which is to be used for purpose of undertaking post disaster relief assistance and reconstruction efforts.
The City is awaiting urgent approval of this grant money from national and provincial government. To this end, I have written a letter to the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance requesting their urgent intervention on this matter.
In addition to this, I have also raised concerns regarding the non-attendance of representatives from the Provincial Disaster Management Centre which prevents the City from getting an update on key issues such as the emergency grant funding and the overall business plan for the disaster area.
Donations from residents
As I have stated before, I had received reports of Councillors collecting donations from residents outside of the appropriate structures. I had requested the Speaker of Council to investigate these allegations and that the proper procedure for collection donations be explained to Councillors.
To this end, the Speaker’s Office has been requested to ensure that the implicated Councillors provide responses to the allegations by 12 March 2018.
As we near the conclusion of this investigation, I would like to thank the residents of those affected communities for their support and continued patience in this matter.
I would like to assure residents that we take this matter seriously and will do all that is within our power to ensure that there is appropriate consequence management for those implicated by the final report.
Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor
City of Joburg
Media queries:
Luyanda Mfeka
Director: Mayoral Communications
Office of the Executive Mayor
Cell: 076 171 5978
Email: luyandam@joburg.org.za
