Continue reading »]]> Date: [insert your address and other contact details]

Ms. Ntombi Mekgwe
MEC: Local Government
Province of Gauteng
37 Pixley ka Seme [formerly Sauer] Street
JOHANNESBURG

Dear Ms. Mekgwe

Application for condonation in terms of Section 80 of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act No. 6 of 2004

I am the owner of property in the City of Johannesburg being Erf No. [insert] in the Township of [insert suburb name].

The Chief Valuer of the City, for the purpose of the Johannesburg 2013 General Valuation Roll, has valued my property at [insert amount]. I wish to object to this valuation for the reasons set out below.

During the month of february, 2013, the City notified all property owners in the City of the valuations assigned to their properties and invited them to submit their objections to the valuation by no later than 3rd May, 2013.

I was unable to submit an objection by the aforesaid date because [set out your reasons and see notes below ].

I respectfully state that my application for condonation of a late submission of an objection is well grounded and has prospects of success. The valuation of [insert amount] assigned to the property is in excess of the market value as at 1st July, 2013. According to the opinion of [insert name of estate agent] the correct value is [insert amount]. I attach the estate agents letter which motivates the alternative valuation.

For all these reasons I respectfully request you to allow me to submit an objection within such time and subject to such conditions as the Act permits you to impose in your discretion.

Yours truly,

Notes:-

1. If you have been abroad attach photocopy pages from your passport ceertified as true copies by a Commisioner of Oaths
2. If you were in ill health attach a medical certificate

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

John Mendelsohn

DA Shadow MMC for the Municipal Public Accounts Committee

The deadline for property owners who wished to submit objections to the valuations assigned to their properties in the Johannesburg 2013 General Valuation Roll expired on 3rd May, 2013.

Some of the affected owners may have very good reasons for failing to have submitted objections in good time, for example. such as being abroad, ill health or not having received the notice of valuation because of the postal workers’ strike.

Condonation for late submission of the objection has to be obtained from the Gauteng MEC for Local Government. Section 80 of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act permits applications to be submitted to the MEC for Local Government.

The applications must be submitted in writing. It should set out the reasons for failing to comply with the deadline. It would be wise to show that the application is not frivolous and that the owner has prospects of success if the objection is taken into consideration. If the valuation is unrealistically high, this allegation should be backed up by a valuation prepared by an estate agent.

The applications should be addressed to Ms. Ntombi Mekgwe. MEC for Local Government, Province of Gauteng and delivered to Bank of Lisbon Building, 37 Sauer Street [now Pixley ka Seme Street], Johannesburg. It is advisable to have a duplicate copy signed and dated as having been received.

A specimen letter for seeking condonation can be found on the DA website www.dajhb.co.za

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Tsepo Mhlongo

Shadow Member of the Mayoral Committee for Housing in the City of Johannesburg

Today, the City of Johannesburg launched the 96/97 Campaign, aimed at verifying the number of applicants who first applied for housing subsidies during the period 1996/97. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the City of Johannesburg does not believe that this will adequately address housing backlogs in the metro.

According to Johannesburg Mayor, Parks Tau, the 96/97 campaign will be used to verify existing housing data; this was collected during a campaign run by the provincial government in 2008 called Ziveze. To date, the provincial and municipal housing departments have failed to co-operate or share this information. If the data was collected correctly in the first place, the Johannesburg metro is simply incurring undue costs. If it was not, questions need to be raised in this regard.

The City of Johannesburg will not solve housing issues or root out on-going corruption with this current campaign. Instead, the DA appeals to the City to do the following in order to ensure fairness and transparency in the housing allocation process:

• Establish Housing Estate Offices in all priority areas, as done in the DA-run City of Cape Town. Residents are then able to visit these offices personally and update their details if and when necessary.
• Co-operate with the provincial housing department on campaigns such as Ziveze in order to avoid unnecessary duplication and costs.
• Request an independent source, such as the Auditor- General, to conduct verification of beneficiary information or housing deliverables
• Establish a municipal housing demand database support programme to ensure that accurate, tamper proof data is used to select beneficiaries for human settlements projects.

The city cannot expect to resolve housing backlogs in an open, accountable and transparent manner unless it provides residents with a viable system. Residents of the City of Johannesburg who have been waiting for houses while living in terrible conditions deserve nothing less.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Tim Truluck

Spokesperson on Paid Parking in the City of Johannesburg

The City of Johannesburg has requested the MMC for Public Safety, Cllr Selly Lemao, to take the necessary steps to resolve the challenges on paid parking meter system in Parkhurst by 9 May.

This was the recommendation voted on in a full Council Meeting on Thursday 25 April 2013 when a Public Safety Section 79 oversight committee report on the “Public Hearings Conducted on the Rollout of Paid Parking System in Parkhurst” was presented.

This report on the public hearings on the paid parking scheme is just the latest indictment in the botched roll out and subsequent mismanagement that continues to embarrass this City while punishing the tiny and vibrant northern suburb of Parkhurst.

The scheme was conceived to solve the street parking problems experienced in the Central Business Districts of Johannesburg and Braamfontein. And, it has by and large worked in those areas.
But when the scheme moved into the suburbs, its deficiencies became apparent.

If the scheme was adaptable and if the City had been responsive to submissions from the Parkhurst Community it may have worked. All they needed to have done were the following three things:

1. There needed to be a 15-30 minutes free parking period to enable residents to drop in and buy milk or a newspaper from local traders.
2. Parkhurst does not have a parking problem during the day when this scheme operates. The problems start in early evening and weekends when patrons for the restaurants arrive and park all over the sidewalk and clog the side streets. Apart from Saturday mornings, this scheme does not address the parking problems in Parkhurst. Proper law enforcement is really all that is needed to solve any Parkhurst parking problems.
3. There has been no other benefit to the suburb. The Service Level Agreement between Ace Parking and the JMPD clearly states that it is the City’s responsibility to maintain the roads and sidewalks where the scheme is implemented. Apart from JRA painting the street markings with paint bought and supplied by Ace, 4th Avenue in Parkhurst still has potholes, still has crumbling sidewalks and still has paid parking bays on pedestrian crossings.

If the City had addressed these issues, then the revolt by the Parkhurst community would probably have fizzled out.

What happened next has been summed up by the MD of Ace Parking in a December 2012 report: “In the beginning of January of 2012 Ace started to expand operations into the suburbs of Johannesburg with the first one being Parkhurst. The residents of Parkhurst rallied behind a campaign to resist the new parking management system and resulted in a lot of press. Unfortunately, as a result of this, the process of expanding operations into the Johannesburg suburbs has now been stalled for over 15 months.”

This report before the full council contains the words, grievances and the general discontent of residents and councillors towards the paid parking scheme in the suburbs.

But it also contains evidence that JMPD led the City’s residents and councillors down the garden path with respect to a study that was supposedly conducted to identify the suburbs for paid parking roll out.

At the June meeting with councillors, Chief of Police, Chris Ngcobo was quoted as saying: “A survey was done. JMPD had identified 38 areas that will be affected by the system.”

Furthermore, at the 14 September meeting with Councillors and members of the public, he is quoted as responding to Cllr Amanda Forsythe with: “He will meet with the Cllr in Ward 87 and take her through the survey done.”

But, at the Region B public meeting on 5 December, the Chief was not there and the Acting Chief of Police, Director Dlepu, finally came clean and advised that: “There was no study conducted.”
The Chief of Police misled me, my fellow councillors, the MMC, the Section 79 Committee, the public.

This scheme is now blighted in the suburbs. But it still remains in one tiny suburb where it is not addressing the needs of the community, it is not solving the parking problems, it is not improving the quality of life in our suburban high street environment, it is not even making money for the City.

In the words of a Parkhurst Resident who is one of 1398 petitions to remove the scheme from Parkhurst: “The Kerbside Paid Parking concept in Parkhurst was not properly planned, no consultation, poorly implemented and is generally unpopular.”

MMC Lemao, MMC Walters, Executive Mayor; listen to what your residents want. What your traders want. What your visitors to the City want. Remove the paid parking scheme from Parkhurst.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Mmusi Maimane

Leader of the DA Caucus in the City of Johannesburg

Note to Editors: This statement was made by the DA Caucus Leader in Johannesburg at a Press Conference earlier today.

I would like to take this opportunity today to introduce the newly elected caucus leadership for the DA in Johannesburg. On Tuesday evening, we elected a new Caucus Chairperson, Susanne Clarke, we elected a new Political Support Chairperson, Darren Bergman, and I nominated a new Chief Whip, Alan Fuchs.

As the new caucus leadership’s first action, the DA in the City of Johannesburg will this month embark on an extensive campaign to get input from Joburg residents on what Mayor Parks Tau needs to say in his state of the city address next month.

We will reach out to residents through community meetings and door-to-door campaigns to learn more about their concerns and preferred service delivery priorities. We also invite comment from the public via e-mail to TipsForTau2013@gmail.com, or through Facebook and Twitter at @DA_JHB.

Once we have received input from the people of Johannesburg, we will put their demands to Mayor Tau and ask him to address their concerns. Too often, the concerns and demands of regular residents are ignored by those in power.

This campaign aims to give a voice to those people who feel left out by the normal political process.

We will allow the input from the public to inform our response to Mayor Tau’s state of the city address, but we have already identified some key problem areas that we believe the Mayor must address. The DA’s 5 key concerns are:

• Youth Employment opportunities
• Safety and security
• Financial stability for the City of Johannesburg
• Eliminating fraud and corruption
• Maintenance of the City’s infrastructure to facilitate economic growth

This is the first initiative I will undertake with the newly elected caucus leadership, as introduced today, and I look forward to working with them on this endeavour.

I will do everything I can, together with the nominated chief whip and the newly elected caucus chairperson, to ensure that we get this City working to improve the lives of its residents.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Alan Fuchs

DA Chief Whip in the City of Johannesburg and Spokesperson on Pikitup

Historically, Pikitup has been one of the worst run entities in the City Johannesburg due to poor management and lack of proper oversight by the Executive. This is evident from the second quarter report of the financial year (Oct. to Dec 2012)

Financially, the entity has a deficit of over R400 million and is hopelessly insolvent. Revenue has dropped and costs are escalating. Employee and fleet costs make up 87% of the total operating costs. Shockingly, only 12% of the capital budget had been spent by December 2012.

Operationally, targets were not being met in terms of levels of cleanliness and illegal dumping is increasing as a result of refuse either not being collected at all or being collected late. The procurement of vehicles has been delayed, so the late collection of refuse is likely to continue well into 2013. Furthermore, Pikitup is only 69% compliant with regulations that control the management of landfill sites.

At great cost to the residents of Johannesburg, a composting plant was erected at Panaroma. The objective was to take pressure off the garden refuse sites by composting the green waste as well as reducing the amount of green waste going to the landfill sites. However, the Board of Pikitup has decided that the composting operations be abandoned because the cost of extending the site to full capacity is too high. This is just another example of the City walking away from projects that are not properly planned or implemented.

Residents of the City of Johannesburg should not pay for poor service from Pikitup. This is particularly true when it comes to the new levy for lost and stolen bins. On two occasions the MD of Pikitup indicated that in the event a bin was stolen, Pikitup would provide a new bin free of charge if it was reported to the police and an affidavit was produced. Then the MD reneged on that undertaking, apologizing for providing incorrect information. It is iniquitous and possibly illegal to charge people for a new bin when they are not responsible for the loss of the old one.

City of Johannesburg Mayor, Parks Tau, must accept responsibility for the position in which Pikitup finds itself and remedy his lack of oversight, because ultimately, he is responsible.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Lynette Pretorius

DA Ward Councillor for City of Johannesburg Ward 68

Last night a mob of angry residents marched to the house of DA Ward Cllr Lynette Pretorius. The Councillor was blamed for the poor service delivery in the ward. The main complaint had to do with the lack of maintenance and grass cutting by City Parks. The situation became heated and JMPD and SAPS had to be called in. Cllr Pretorius produced sufficient evidence with regards to correspondence with the City and City Parks, requesting assistance with maintenance in her ward. The residents listened to Cllr Pretorius and crowd eventually dispersed peacefully. Cllr Pretorius has vowed to continue to fight for service delivery in her ward.

Please see her statement below. Cllr Pretorius is the Councillor for Ward 68 and can be contacted on 076 901 136.

It’s high time that the CEO of City Parks came to explain to the communities why the areas are in such a bad state. As from December 2012 I have forward emails to the entity to cut grass. According one of the officials, they were going to start at the beginning of February 2013, but were delayed. Eventually they started in Industria, but the grass is overgrown once again. City Parks just cut the grass in an unprofessional manner. At certain points they will cut and leave an entire section uncut.

The residents of Riverlea Extension 3 went to the extent to march to the home of the local councillor on the eve of the 27th March 2013. The residents in Riverlea Ext 3 are living on private property and it’s their duty to keep their stands clean and fenced off. Several stands are vacant, the stands are overgrown with grass and not fenced off. Last year we experience the same scenario in Riverlea Ext 3 and City Parks made it clear it’s the owners responsibility not theirs. We had several robberies taking place in the area, due to the very same issue. Residents of Riverlea Ext 3 don’t attend the Community Policing Forum, but when incidents occur they want to take action to endanger the lives of innocent people that are not public representatives. I call on the residents that when I’m in the area having open meetings to attend. We had several crime meetings with the residents in the very same area and eventually some of them stayed away. We then started having mining meetings, but only a certain part of the area attended those meetings. Residents must remember it’s only in joining hands that we can make ward 68 and the entire South Africa a better place to live in.

Irrespective of the situation, as a human being and the local councillor, I feel their frustration and I sympathize with them, but it’s time the CEO gets out with his crew and comes and explains to the residents what action will be taken.

That said and done, the entire ward 68 is in a mess and my question to City Parks is when do they intend to tackle the issues? Catch a wake up please! It’s not my job to beg you to do your job, you know what your duties are! If you go to all the other surrounding disadvantaged areas, you are faced with the very same sight for sore eyes. City Parks the ball is in your court! I will stand up for ward 68 and if need be I will bring them to your offices if you don’t come out and address the crowd.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

John Mendelsohn

DA Shadow MMC for the Municipal Public Accounts Committee

The Johannesburg Budget for the next financial year contains good news for pensioners and gives some relief to those who struggle to pay rates on their properties in the face of an upward spiral in the cost of living. It will also bring into the net, pensioners who were previously disqualified because the value of their properties or the level of their income was above the prescribed limit.

With effect from 1st July 2013 the following criteria will apply for pensioners aged between 60 and 70 years old, whose property does not exceed a value of R2 million (up from R1.5 million):

• If the monthly household income is less than R6000 [up from R5600] there will be a 100% rebate on rates
• If the monthly income is between R6000 and R11 000 [up from R10 200] there will be a 50% rebate on rates

The DA submitted a proposal that the income levels be adjusted to R7000 to qualify for a 100% rebate and to R12 800 to qualify for a 50% rebate and will continue to press for those adjustments. The DA believes that the City can easily afford these higher concessions.

The best news of all is for pensioners above the age of 70. Provided that the value of their property is not more than R2 million, they will qualify for a 100% rebate on their rates, irrespective of their income level.

These same concessions apply to pensioners who have life rights in sectionalized units.

Pensioners who are entitled to these concessions will have to submit formal applications on the forms which will be available at the various Customer Centres around the City, but only after 1 July 2013.

Continue reading »]]> Media Release by:

Lynette Pretorius

DA Ward Councillor for City of Johannesburg Ward 68

The City of Johannesburg has approved budget within this financial year for the construction of a housing project in Slovo Park. This follows more than two years of consultations between the community, MMC of Housing, Dan Bovu, Town Planning and housing officials, and myself.

During these consultations, it was promised that the project would start in September 2012; however, this has now been pushed to November 2013. The money has been budgeted for this financial year and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the City of Johannesburg believes that there is no further reason to delay the construction of this project.
The Slovo Park informal settlement is more than 20 years old and the community has waited long enough for comfortable and safe housing. The DA will be raising this matter in council and will be requesting MMC Dan Bovu to explain the reasons for this delay.

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Media Release by:

In the March 2013 City Council Agenda, the Department of Transport in the City of Johannesburg released a list of 26 additional areas that have been targeted for an audit in preparation for the roll out of the Paid Parking Scheme.

The areas are:

Alexandra, Bellevue, Birnam, Craighall Park, Cyrildene, Emmarentia, Florida, Fordsburg, Greenside, Illovo, Linden, Lenasia, Mayfair, Melville, Midrand, Northcliff, Norwood, Parkview, Randburg, Rivonia, Roodepoort, Rosebank, Rosettenville, Sandton, Soweto and Yeoville.

These additional areas will join Parkhurst, Braamfontein and the Johannesburg CBD where the scheme has already been operating.

Furthermore, the City of Johannesburg has also published its intention to increase the Paid Parking tariffs to R9 an hour (a 50 cents an hour increase) from 1 July 2013. This is a 5.9% increase and will bring in an estimated extra R135 000 for the next financial year.

However, it will only result in the city earning an extra R16 a day from the Paid Parking Scheme in Parkhurst. It is unlikely that any new audits or studies will make any difference to the scheme in Parkhurst.

The online petition calling for the scheme’s removal has now reached 1100 supporters. It is quite clear from an analysis of the comments received from the respondents to the petition that this scheme, “Was not properly planned, included no consultation, is poorly implemented and is generally unpopular.”

It is clear that the residents and businesses in Parkhurst are already suffering from the punitive cost of the scheme.

The public will surely reject the increased fee. The last public participation process in our Region took place on 5 December 2012, during which there was a recommendation to form a committee to examine the issue and come up with proposals for future contracts. To date, nothing has been done to put a committee together nor has there been any further interaction with the residents and businesses in our wards regarding the transport audits, or the increase in the hourly rate.

The clock is ticking as the current contract expires at the end of June 2014.