WeeklySA_AdminACCOUNTABILITY: Joburg municipality in contempt of five-year-old order to install basic services on their stands so they can build their homes…
By Tania Broughton
A group of Soweto property owners want City of Johannesburg officials to be sent to jail for not complying with two court orders.
The nine owners, who bought land under the city’s land regularisation process, have not been able to occupy the land and have been charged rates and taxes despite their stands not being connected to basic services.
The city’s regularisation process was aimed at selling thousands of council-owned properties to residents, giving them access to land and home ownership.
But, these owners say they have been let down. And in spite of getting two court orders compelling the city and its agent, the Joburg Property Company, to install the basic bulk infrastructure in the area so they can build on their stands, more than five years later this has not been done.
The property owners are represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS).
They bought their properties in the Zondi area of Soweto between 2009 and 2014.
They first went to court in October 2017 after discovering that there was no bulk infrastructure for basic services and they could not build their homes but were being charged rates and taxes.
They asked for an order for the city’s conduct to be declared unconstitutional and to direct it to install the necessary infrastructure, and to write off the rates charges.
Two orders
A settlement agreement was made by an order of court. In it, the city agreed to install the infrastructure and said a special council meeting would be convened in terms of the Municipal Structures Act to process the approval of the installations.
The owners say that order was not complied with. In December 2021, they returned to court, securing another order stating that the city was now in contempt. But this had little or no effect.
Now the residents have launched further contempt proceedings in the Gauteng High Court. They also want the court to declare that the conduct in their case is inconsistent with the Constitution and is unlawful.
In an affidavit Pamela Duduzile Nkosi, on behalf of the owners, said: “The core of this application is about accountability. The issues raised in this application are about holding government institutions and officials accountable for not only contemptuous conduct towards this court, but also about the dereliction of their constitutional obligations even after they have been clarified by this court.”
Nkosi said five years had passed since the first order was granted, by agreement, and yet they were not given any good reason why they were still without bulk infrastructure.
Nkosi attached a long list of correspondence between CALS and attorneys acting for the city. It reflects that at some stage, a “working committee” was established to monitor the situation, that there had been some instability in the community, and a need to engage with the ward councillor regarding the installations.
On the issue of the bills, Nkosi said, finally in May 2024 it appeared as if the debts had been written off. But they were still facing “discomfort” at the fact that the billing would again proceed and they would still have no electricity and water.
In a statement this month, the city stated that the application was premature “given the collaborative efforts made by both parties to implement the court order”.
“To date, the City has made significant progress on implementing the court order. The write-off report has been approved and the City’s debt collectors have been notified. Furthermore, the area is supplied with electricity by Eskom and CALS was notified to advise their clients to individually apply to Eskom for electricity.”
The city added that a bulk service provider had been appointed but was chased away by the community and the contract was subsequently cancelled. A meeting is scheduled for this week with the ward councillor and the community to find a solution to this. – GroundUp
Mirror Briefs
NEARLY R352 MILLION PAID FOR MARIKANA VICTIMS
Government remained dedicated to addressing claims arising from the Marikana tragedy when 34 mine workers were shot dead by police in 2016, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Thembi Simelane, said this week. This week marked the 12th anniversary of the Marikana tragedy.
On 16 August 2016, 34 mineworkers at the Lonmin mine in the North West were shot by police while they were demanding a salary of R12 500 a month. Ten police officers were also killed in the days leading up to the Marikana massacre.
Speaking at a media briefing, Simelane described the anniversary as a “sombre chapter in the nation’s history that continues to resonate deeply”.
According to Simelane, about R352 million had been disbursed in claims related to Marikana. “This reflects our ongoing efforts to ensure that those affected receive the compensation they are due.” The beneficiaries included the families of the 34 mine workers who lost their lives, as well as the injured and arrested mine workers. “Each case has been assessed individually to ensure that compensation aligns with legal frameworks and court directives.
“We have resolved most aspects of the Marikana matter, apart from constitutional damages, which are currently under consideration by the Gauteng High Court. We remain committed to finalising this matter and ensuring that justice is served.” The Minister said her office had, over the past few weeks, conducted a series of comprehensive meetings with management and branch heads to gain a detailed understanding of the department’s operational challenges and opportunities. – SA News
DADA MORERO GETS THE MAYOTAL CHAIN – AGAIN
African National Congress councillor, Dada Morero who has been elected as the executive mayor of Johannesburg, has promised to work with members of the community to resolve service delivery challenges. Morero replaces embattled former mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, who resigned this week having been forced to by his coalition partners in the ANC.
The mayoral position was contested by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Belinda Echeozonjo, who received 60 votes from her caucus during a special council meeting held in the municipality on Friday. Morero received 189 votes from various political parties including their new coalition partners, ActionSA.
Morero, having served as the city’s finance MMC in Gwamanda’s cabinet, ascends to the mayoral post for the second time after a short-lived stint at the helm last year. Currently the ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson, he was removed as mayor in October 2022 after the DA went to court to dispute his election. The court found in the DA’s favour declaring his election unconstitutional. Before his election this week, the ANC Johannesburg regional office said the city would be governed by a broad coalition representing 192 seats of the 270-seat council. The ANC has 90 seats, and its government of local unity will include the EFF (29 seats), possibly Action SA (44), the Patriotic Alliance (8), IFP (7) and a host of minor parties, including Al Jama-ah. – Lehlohonolo Lehana
CHIEF JUSTICE ZONDO’S LAST JUDGMENT
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is set to retire at the end of this month, marking the end of a judicial career that has spanned twenty-seven and a half years on the Bench, chief justice office announced in a statement at the weekend.
The judiciary will honour Zondo in a special ceremonial sitting of the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, the day he would hand down his last judgment. The executive, Parliament, judiciary, and legal professions will participate in this event, and the evening before, there will be a farewell dinner to honour him. Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya would succeed Zondo making her South Africa’s first female chief justice. The office said that during his term as judge-president, Zondo made strides in advancing racial and gender transformation in the labour appeal court.
“As Judge-President of the labour appeal court and labour court chief justice, Zondo has also given many acting opportunities to women who were subsequently appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and the Constitutional Court, “the office said.
Born in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Zondo matriculated from St Mary’s Seminary before studying law at the University of Zululand, the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal), and later at the University of South Africa. He holds a B. Juris degree, an LLB degree, an LLM degree (cum laude) in labour law, a LLM degree with specialisation in commercial law, and a LLM degree in patent law.- Lehlohonolo Lehana.
RURAL WOMEN HAVE NO ACCESS TO LAND
The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has recommended that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development take the lead in ensuring the introduction of necessary national legislative reforms related to communal land. The recommendation followed the commission’s reports, which found that women in rural areas still faced discriminatory and patriarchal challenges that posed significant barriers in gaining access to land.
The Commission launched the reports titled: “Exploring Barriers to Women’s Access to Land in selected Provinces of South Africa” and “The State of Maternity and Neonatal Health Care in the Eastern Cape Province” last week.
The study was conducted in accordance with the CGE mandate to investigate the obstacles to women’s access to communal land in rural South Africa.
The research focused on the Eastern Cape, North West, and Limpopo provinces, examining legislative, procedural, cultural and socio-economic factors that impeded women’s access to communal land in the country.
According to the research findings, there was a fragmented approach to the allocation of communal land in the three sampled provinces.
This was due to each senior traditional leader and their traditional councils adhering to their own cultural norms and beliefs, leading to disparities even within the provinces. – SA News.
The study found that traditional leaders played a significant role in the allocation of land in all the communities visited. – SA News
