Scores of residents in Milnerton joined forces and staged a protest against alleged unauthorised illegal buildings in their neighbourhood on Saturday 6 May.
They took to the streets to voice their concerns claiming that the developers of these illegal dwellings both infringe the Cape Town Municipal Planning By-laws and Land Use Management Acts.
For years, Milnerton Central and surrounding neighbourhoods have been grappling with an uptick in the illegal establishment of boarding houses.
Resident’s Associations are considering legal action against property owners establishing boarding houses in the area without zoning approvals.
Over 160 problem properties were identified across suburbs in Milnerton with most of them in Summer Greens.
The protesters gathered at the open space on the corner of Pringle and Consair roads in Sanddrift, held placards in their hands, raised slogans and demanded the City of Cape Town safeguard their interests.
The peaceful protest called on the Deputy Mayor, Eddie Andrews to receive a signed petition with demands.
One of the residents and organisers of the protest, who wishes to remain anonymous after previously receiving threats from developers, says the protest was held to express their continued dissatisfaction surrounding the lack of efficiency of the current systems.
Bribery and corruption
He claims that in most cases owners of these properties are foreign nationals who take advantage of the system.
He says these ongoing challenges continue to have quantitively impacted negatively on property values while degrading the intrinsic nature of the suburbs.
“The intensity and frequency of these infringements in turn poses a substantial risk to diminish revenue derived by the City of Cape Town from property rates and taxes,” he adds.
Another resident who resides in Danielle Road, Sanddrift, says that corruption and bribery are taking place as building inspectors approve building plans which are clearly illegal.
“I invite all to come and take a look at the property in Danielle Road and tell me how this was approved.
She says these illegal buildings do not only decrease their property value but is also a safety and health hazard for neighbours.
“A thorough investigation into this matter needs to take place,” she says.
Memorandum
- boarding houses;
- illegal buildings and construction either concluded or continuing without plans despite Stop Orders and legal processes initiated by the City of Cape Town.
- businesses operating without rezoning which in instances include guest houses, as well as illegal operations of “shabeens”, spaza shops and brothels.
“We collectively hereby request your intervention to investigate the current frameworks, systems and processes surrounding the enforcement of the respective by-laws and acts pertaining to address and implement the legislative reforms required to inhibit the continuation of the damages suffered by residents,” states the memorandum.
- The current systems and processes of the MPBL & Land Use Management Act and enforcement thereof to ensure that they serve the interests of all areas, including;
- an urgent review of the antiquated processes pertaining to the reporting and implementing impactful and results-driven enforcement procedures by the respective departments, ensuring these by-laws are enforceable, thereby inhibit future risk of this continuing as priority, as well as the implementation of increasing penalties for deviations of approved plans with further consideration for harsher consequences for repeat offenders.
- The memorandum was handed over to Andrews at the end of the protest.
City of Cape Town responds
Andrews acknowledged the City needs to work with the community and called for an urgent meeting to be arranged with the ratepayers associations, “with a view to setting up a task team to address the various concerns raised by the residents.”
He confirmed the need for dedicated enforcement with specific outcomes to be implemented.
He told TygerBurger that the alleged unlawful uses and structures are being investigated.
“Once the contraventions are established, relevant notices are served.
“In some instances where developers/owners do not comply with the notices issued by Building/Property Inspectors, further legal action is pursued, petitioning the relevant courts in order to obtain compliance with applicable laws, be it the National Building Regulations and Standards Act (NBR) and /or the City of Cape Town Municipal Planning By-Law (MPBL),” he said.
The City is pursuing litigation in the Western Cape High Court involving “a number of repeat offenders and the elaborate legal processes are viewed as deterrents for future contraventions linked to the same owners,” he elaborated.
This wil continue and they aim to strengthen their efforts.
They will take on a more proactive approach, he emphasises.
“We will investigate how we can fine-tune a more dedicated approach to address various concerns.
“The City will exercise its options to petition the courts for cessation of unlawful building works or to prevent occupation of unlawful buildings in cases of rapid construction.
“Processes leading to compliance may include court orders to demolish unlawful structures/ cease unlawful land uses, or orders to regularise unlawful structures/uses.
“Development applications submitted to regularise unlawful uses/structures will still be evaluated in terms of the criteria stipulated in the applicable laws, which aim to promote appropriate developments,”
