Joburg official suspended after alleged irregularities linked to housing collapse

A Johannesburg building official has been suspended after he was linked to irregularities that may have caused several houses to collapse.

The suspension follows an investigation launched by Mayor Herman Mashaba into why houses had lost their roofs and collapsed during a hail and rain storm.

“The Building Development Management Directorate within the Department of Development Planning has suspended the Building Control Officer‚ pending further investigations into various allegations of misconduct‚” the City of Johannesburg said in a statement.

The statement listed the following allegations against the official:

• Irregularities in the issuing of notices to developers‚ resulting in developments taking place without approved plans‚ creating a law-enforcement burden for the City‚ and loss of revenue;
• Failure to implement a Geoscience report‚ which pre-empted possible collapsing of houses in both Lenasia and Protea‚ as stated in the recent report presented by the National Home Builders Registration Council;
• Dereliction of duties with regards to Public Protector matters; and
• Insubordination and failure to carry out various lawful instructions. Councillor Reuben Masango‚ MMC for development planning‚ said further investigations would provide more details on the allegations.

Masango said he was “disappointed that an official in such an integral position could have failed to uphold the roles and responsibilities bestowed upon them.”

“As a City‚ a major part of our priorities is to serve our residents with pride. The position of the City has been clear: we will not tolerate any action taken by any official‚ who is entrusted with important responsibility that also carries significant authority‚ to give disservice to our residents; and fail to perform the duties assigned in line with the by-laws and policies of the City‚ and instead‚ demonstrate gross dereliction of duty.

“As the leadership of the Department‚ we will not hesitate to take decisive and appropriate action within the confines of the law‚ and further afford the official an opportunity to respond to the charges laid against them.”

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