Mashaba to come down hard on contractors who exploit the poor

Houses that were “seemingly poorly constructed” were the worst affected by the violent storm that hit the southern and western parts of Johannesburg on December 30 last year.

This is according to a final report released by the City of Johannesburg today following a two-month investigation.

Up to 1 326 properties in low-cost housing developments and informal settlements were damaged during the storm.

In a press briefing about the report, Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba said immediately after the storm, he learned from the affected residents that their homes had been poorly constructed with substandard building materials, a matter, the residents said to the mayor, that had been raised with developers.

As part of the investigation, the City sought to establish the following:

• the City’s role in the approval of building plans, statutory inspections throughout the construction phase of properties and issuing occupation certificates which affirm the safety of the buildings;
• establishing the identities of contractors involved in the construction of some these buildings;
• and the role of financial institutions, such as lenders and banks, which funded the construction of some of these buildings.

The City had obtained the services of independent building construction engineers and a team of assessors and quantity surveyors to carry out the investigation.

The investigation found that excessive wind force and the severity of the storm is what caused the damage to the properties.

“However, the use of poor design and construction methods and substandard building materials in alternations or additions made to properties, such as those found in boundary walls put up by property owners, left some properties far more exposed to the storm,” the report stated.

Additionally, concerns were raised in the final findings about the registration of construction companies operating in the worst affected areas.

“In terms of Section 10 of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, any person in the business of home building is required by law to register with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC). Failure to do so is an offence which, upon conviction, is punishable with a fine of up to R25 000 or a one-year prison term on each charge,” the City said in a statement.

It added that during its investigations, it was revealed that one of the developers operating in the area appeared not to be registered with the NHBRC, a matter that could not be confirmed with the council, however.

Three officials have been suspended by the department of development and planning for further investigations. The three were suspended for refusing to cooperate with the City’s Group Risk and Audit Services (Gras), which conducted internal investigations on the matter.

The investigation found:

• Poor record-keeping at the City’s Building Development Management (BDM)
• No consistency in the dates of plan approvals in relation to the occupancy certificates
• Stand numbers with two different plan approval dates
• No certificates of occupancy in Lufhereng (one of the areas struck by the storm) property files
• Dates on certificates of occupancy differ from stamps issuing said certificates
• Incomplete files
• Incomplete applications for approval of building plans

Gras has recommended that management must:

• ensure they implement and monitor controls to ensure files and records are properly safeguarded against loss, theft and misfiling while providing sufficient space to store files containing plans and related records;
• monitor issuance of occupancy certificates and ensure that building inspectors record the correct date of plan approval in line with the file to avoid conflicting dates;
• ensure building inspectors perform compulsory inspections of properties under development before occupation and the issuance of occupancy certificates;
• implement and monitor controls to ensure that files are complete, and the date at which the plan was submitted and approved is correctly recorded on the file;
• ensure that an independent official checks and verifies the completeness of files;
• monitor and implement controls to that only fully completed application forms are accepted. Implement a mechanism to ensure that the pre-scrutiny section properly scrutinises the files before capturing into the City’s system;
• ensure that assessors complete and sign the application to ensure accountability and
• ensure those plan examiners are consistent in the handling of files and ensure that dates of the recommendation for approval on the file are the same as the stamp and on the plan.

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