Make a plan, Joburg, or you’ll become a big, illegal building site with no gold

Thousands of illegal buildings and businesses mushrooming across Johannesburg are putting enormous pressure on the city’s infrastructure, resulting in constant water bursts, electricity outages, illegal dumping and potholes.

And to add insult to injury, these illegal buildings are costing the city millions, as additional structures bring additional rates and taxes which are not charged or paid as they are not on record.

The problem seems to stem from the city’s slowness in approving plans, often leading to people building illegally or paying bribes to expedite plans.

Another trick on the part of builders is to get plans approved, then not adhere to them, increasing sizes. They take advantage of the fact that there are only two building inspectors in each of the city’s seven regions.

Ironically, the Metro Link Centre, a state-of-the-art circular building added onto the Civic Centre in 2010 to fast-track plans, was condemned by the labour department last year, deemed unsafe. Staff moved to Thuso House in Braamfontein, taking along a few pending plans with them.

However, the bulk has been left behind and no one is able to access them because there is no access into the building, so planners have to start from scratch.

Piles of plans lie scattered in the basement of the civic centre and in the Roodepoort planning offices, some of them spread into toilet cubicles, said a frustrated architect, who took photographs, but who would not be named, fearing his plans would be further delayed.

“The department is dysfunctional, with people not being able to get appointments with staff and the phones going unanswered.

“I go to the city and Roodepoort planning offices and both are in a mess. There are piles of unmarked plans all over the floors. This results in residents wanting to do minor alterations having to pay to get brand new sets of house plans drawn from scratch as there are no archives,” the architect said.

I applied for consent and have been waiting for over six months, so I operate illegally. I tried to do the right thing, but I simply cannot afford to be without income any longer.

—  Guest house owner

Attorney Chantelle Gladwin, who deals with municipal matters, said the building department was in total shambles.

She has several clients who have been asking the city to act against illegal buildings in areas such as Westdene, Melville and Kensington.

“It is sad to see property owners having to appoint lawyers to protect their properties against neighbours’ violations. It is very sad for developers who are forced to build without plans as they cannot wait for years, having to pay holding costs,” Gladwin added.

Another resident, who would not be named, runs an illegal guest house in Kensington.

“I applied for consent and have been waiting for over six months, so I operate illegally. I tried to do the right thing, but I simply cannot afford to be without income any longer,” she said.

Bez Valley/Observatory ward councillor Carlos da Rochas said there was little or no building bylaw law enforcement.

“These uncontrolled building operations are slowly engulfing the whole city, including more upmarket areas, where developers undertake massive residential building, many without plans.

“In the suburbs, we have as many as 60 people living in one residential property as owners build rooms right around the main house. The grid is already outdated and is under immense strain,” he said.

Several other ward councillors, from north to south, agree.

Neuren Pietersen, of the lower Kensington area, said it is essential for neighbours to be vigilant and inform their councillors or they will find themselves surrounded by illegal rooms and even two-storey blocks of flats on the borders of their properties. “I have at least 1,000 illegal buildings in just my area,” he said. 

Annette Deppe, ward councillor of Kyalami/Midrand, said she is on constant guard for new developments.

“Some developers, who want to act legally, apply for a section 76 certificate, which allows them a one-month temporary permission to start building before the plans are approved, but the developers carry on long after that has expired because their plans are taking months to be approved and they cannot afford holding costs. They also put people into the units without occupation and fire certificates. Many also deviate from the plans, adding more units,” she said.

We are working on improving our communication and have put measures in place to ensure that as soon as a decision is made on a building application, the customer will be informed. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

—  Development planning spokesperson Poppy Louw

Several have been caught out, but then simply amend their plans and, because the development is finished, the plans are likely to be approved or bribes are paid.

The city, she said, has no money for demolition orders, which are costly and time-consuming.

The city’s department of development planning spokesperson Poppy Louw said, historically, the municipality had committed to a 48-hour approval plan.

However, the plans for minor building works could not be approved due to the poor quality of submissions, which delayed approvals. It is possible to get quick approval for minor building works if the quality of plans is good.

Speaking on the closure of the Metro Link building, Louw said it was built pre-Covid-19 and the ventilation is now deemed to be insufficient, but there were also other structural problems identified which require urgent attention.

“The delay has been in the supply chain management process of procuring a service provider to do the remedial works,” said Louw.

Because of Covid-19, staff workd on a roster.

The public has other means of inquiring about building plans, including emailing and/or calling the office numbers, she said, but admitted “there are, indeed, problems with regards to communicating decisions on building plans”.

“We are working on improving our communication and have put measures in place to ensure that as soon as a decision is made on a building application, the customer will be informed. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

To mitigate the delays, a strategy has been introduced to process the building plan backlogs parallel to the processing of newly submitted applications, she added.

Louw said archiving of plans is a problem.

“We appointed interim staff to assist in filing. However, due to Covid-19 regulations, the process was suspended, but will soon be revived.

“Contravention notices have been served on builders, rates penalties are imposed and court procedures initiated. We request the assistance of the public in identifying such developments so the necessary action can be taken.”