June 2, 2004
By Ndaba Dlamini
PEOPLE who are believed to be illegally occupying flats in Jabulani, Chiawelo and Zola will be asked "to follow the proper channels" for buying the council-owned property.
Nthatisi Modingoane, the City of Johannesburg's spokesperson, said some former residents were suspected of having leased, sold or donated the council-owned flats to third parties without the council's knowledge.
"Some of the former residents did not contact the local authority to legally transfer the flats to third parties after vacating them," Modingoane said. "These residents may have sold council property in the belief that they were owners when in actual fact they were tenants."
Now the council had to try to trace the original tenants to untangle the confusion over who may occupy the Soweto flats.
Some former legal tenants had not returned their lease agreements to the council after transferring flats to the present occupiers. "Legally, the flats are council property and any transfer of such property must go through the local authority," said Modingoane.
And, in sidestepping the procedures, some new residents had jumped the council's waiting list. "People have to recognise there is a waiting-list of people who applied for accommodation a long time ago and the list has to be adhered to," Modingoane added.
Illegal tenants would be instructed to contact the council to arrange "transfer of the property through proper channels".
The City of Johannesburg was also planning to sell flats in Jabulani, Chiawelo and Zola to legal tenants - those who occupied the flats on 14 March 1994 - as part of a scheme that allows tenants a discount of up to R7 500.
This meant that the council needed to identify the rightful tenants of the flats as a matter of urgency. Those who had not been the legal tenants on 14 March 1994 would not be entitled to claim the discount; any sale would have to be at market value or historic cost.
The council's current investigations were intended to ensure that those who benefit from the scheme were the legal tenants.
According to the Housing Department's project manager, Mavi Panyane, the
council was encountering other problems in the transfer of flats.
"Tenants want the flats to be transferred to them for free. Some people are not even paying for council services, despite being advised to contact the council's revenue offices for a reprieve."
Property transactions had to follow the correct legal procedure and be lodged with the registrar of deeds.
The council was also investigating reports that flats in Jabulani are being used as surgeries, tuck shops and storage facilities.
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