Public Protector probing ‘dodgy’ Midrand complex

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is investigating the City of Johannesburg, following allegations of maladministration in connection with a complaint that the sub-division of Erf 1119 in the Crescent Wood Country Estate in Midrand was unlawful.

This week, The Citizen revealed how the City of Johannesburg was again embroiled in an alleged dodgy residential development, this time at the upmarket Estate where properties cost up to R4 million.

Homeowners have complained that Erf 1119 Sagewood Ext 10 was a subdivision of 14 stands, but was acquired and approved for sectional titles despite bizarrely being serviced as a full title.

“The Public Protector [Busisiwe Mkhwebane], is investigating allegations of maladministration arising from failure by the City of Johannesburg (COJ) to adhere to its own by-laws during the subdivision of Stand 1119 Crescent Wood Country Estate, Sagewood,” public protector spokesperson Oupa Segalwe confirmed.

He said last month an inspection in loco was conducted at the site, in which the COJ Land Use Management, City Power, and Joburg Water took part.

Segalwe said the public protector requested observation reports from each of these departments but only Land Use Management has submitted theirs, with reports from City Power and Joburg Water still outstanding.

The City of Johannesburg has refused to answer questions on allegations that it breached its own by-laws in approving the sub-division of the property, which has aggrieved homeowners for over four years now.

The homeowners have complained that the sellers were not entirely honest about the status of the development they were buying into.

According to aggrieved homeowner Stanford Sithole, the site was earmarked for townhouses or sectional titles but instead approved as standalone or full title stands when sold to them, but that this was not disclosed and relevant infrastructure installed.

This stalemate, he lamented, has led to a service road that was so narrow refuse trucks were unable to collect their bins, no sewerage connection points, a City Power cable encroaching on properties and meters from a sewerage pipe.

Sectional or full title ?

But Robin Twaddle, of Robin Twaddle and Associates Attorneys, who handled the registration of the subdivision and the transfers of the properties on behalf of the sellers, said the property was never acquired for purposes of establishing a sectional title scheme.

According to Twaddle, who also represented the sellers in the numerous complaints that two of the homeowners have made to various bodies and entities, said no sectional title scheme was ever applied for or approved on the property.

“The application that was made was for its subdivision. The subdivisions are full title. The water, electricity, and sewerage connections are not illegal. There are no illegal servitudes,” he said.

The affected homeowners, Twaddle said, have lodged complaints with the Gauteng department of trade and industry, the banks that granted their bonds, and the SA Police Service. 

Twaddle said that the homeowners also reported him to the Legal Practice council and all of these complaints were investigated and responded to, but that none of these had found any traction.

He was not aware that the public protector was investigating this matter but said he was not surprised that those concerned are “wasting the time” of another public body not appropriate to the issues at hand.

–siphom@citizen.co.za