The application for leave to appeal by George Asaba, a Nigerian developer based in South Africa who owns a building in Pretoria that the court ordered to be demolished because of zoning issues and lack of approved building plans, has been struck from the court roll.
Last week, Kholofelo Morodi, Tshwane's MMC for corporate and shared services, told TimesLIVE Premium the leave to appeal application has been struck from the roll.
“The George Asaba matter has been struck off the roll, with costs to him. We remain committed to upholding lawful development after securing the demolition order for illegal Pretoria West buildings. The city is going ahead with the demolition,” Morodi said.
“For years, illegal buildings, land grabs and hijacked properties have chipped away at service delivery, infrastructure and public safety. This multiparty coalition government, through the Bad Buildings Committee, is taking a stand and pushing back against those who think they can bypass the law. Tshwane is not a playground for opportunists who undermine governance for personal gain.”
On February 26, justice Mncedisi Khumalo in the Pretoria High Court ordered that the Pretoria West property be demolished.
The multistorey building was built where residential houses used to stand.
Three weeks ago, Morodi met TimesLIVE Premium at the property in Pretoria.
“There are curtains in the windows that are visible. This building is already occupied even though they clearly planned to build more storeys. This developer was warned last year in September that he could not continue construction without the proper building plans approved by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, but he chose to continue,” Morodi said at the time.
She confirmed that the demolition would take place once the appeal was decided.
In his February judgment, justice Khumalo authorised the City of Tshwane to “enter the premises and to demolish the offending works, which shall include all the works whereby the dwelling houses were converted into four and three multistorey buildings and shall include electricity, water drainage and sewerage installations installed in connection therewith, and such cost of demolition will be borne by the respondents”.
Asaba claimed the fresh application was based on the grounds that there are reasonable prospects that Court of Appeal would reverse and/or materially alter the demolition order because:
• the court erred in finding that there were no building plans filed with the City of Tshwane. He claimed that he had filed a building plan that was rejected and that he was busy with a rezoning process;
• the court erred in finding that the application for rezoning filed by the first and second applicants (Abasa and his company Gabasa Consolidated Properties) contained in the application was an afterthought;
• the court ignored the occupiers' rights even after having conducted an inspection loco and satisfied itself that the properties were indeed occupied by women and children;
• the applicants contend that the remedy of alternative accommodation falls in the hands of the respondent and not the applicants.
According to the court papers, Abasa claimed to have ceased construction in September last year until the court matter was finalised.
To compound the problem, counsel for the respondent advised the court that soon thereafter, the buildings were invaded by illegal occupiers who are still occupying the buildings and invited the court to do an inspection in loco.
In the February judgment, judge Khumalo did not agree with the claims that construction had ceased.
“Of particular concern to this court is that there are photos taken on August 28 2024 that indicate that the respondents continued with construction workafter they were interdicted from doing so. These include photos of construction workers working normally and construction tools lying about.
“This was in flagrant disregard of the order of this court. For example, there are photographs depicting foundations being laid. One can see from these photos wheelbarrows, concrete wires and so on. During our inspection of the premises, the buildings had been completed which clearly demonstrates that the respondents went ahead with their construction project even though they had not submitted any plans for approval,” Khumalo said in his order.
He said it was clear the respondents have instead applied for rezoning.
“This is not how the law works. One does not build and subsequently apply for rezoning as if it is an afterthought.”
According to MMC Morodi's office, the city received 1,960 land development applications during 2023/24, including township establishment, rezoning, consent use and permission applications.
“The time taken for a rezoning application is dependant on the completeness of the application submitted, public participation and comment from various departments. On average it takes 12 months and the application fees for a rezoning is R10,130. This excludes development charges which are levied per application by service departments.”
They do not believe the onus to be on them to re-home the current, allegedly illegal, occupants of the building.
“As per the court order the city is not obligated to accommodate the people living on the property,” Morodi said.
Asaba did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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