May 28, 2003
By Bongani Majola
THE major thrust of the Johannesburg Property Company's (JPC) 2003/04 business plan is to put in the necessary capacity and infrastructure to operate as a fully fledged and independent company.
Incorporated in 2000 as a company and tasked with managing and developing the immovable property portfolios of the City of Johannesburg and its utilities, agencies and corporatised entities (UACs), the Johannesburg Property Company has been plagued with lack of clarity on its role, exacerbated by lack of information from the City.
The company has now skipped that hurdle and, with a unique corporate identity, now sits firmly in the Johannesburg property industry, looking ahead to improving its efficiency in processing property transactions.
Alongside clarifying its strategic focus, its role in relation to fellow UACs and that of the City of Johannesburg, the JPC has developed and implemented a range of policies and procedures, including policies on the strategic release of City-owned land, outdoor advertising and public places of worship.
However, the company has warned the City that it needs to obtain upfront the 57% funding it gets from the City as a "service fee", so that it can tighten its cash flow budgeting and management.
Budgets relating to the City's twin projects of managing better buildings and establishing a register of assets will be covered separately from the JPC service fee. Thus JPC will embark on two other new projects, namely the implementation of the Activity Based Costing System and the Installation of Property Information Systems, that together will increase the operating budget by R63-million, increasing by an average of 10% for the following two years.
