Developers and investors are not putting money into the city’s redevelopment because of continued problems with the council’s revenue department that, they say is stifling development with its incompetency.

According to Renney Plit, the head of Poma – which represents owners of about 100 000 residential units in Hillbrow, Yeoville, the central business district and Braamfontein – the developers have been forced to employ additional staff purely to deal with account queries that the council has got wrong.

Apparently the city council is unable to reconcile ordinary accounts that have often been paid anyway. Plit says council officials then cut off the water and electricity supplies to a high-rise building where hundreds of people are living, causing huge inconvenience and extreme anger among residents.

He points out that he has applied to the High Court several times to force the council to reconnect the services because their bills are incorrect and on each occasion he has not only won the action but has been awarded the costs of bringing it. 

According to Poma the meter-reading service in the inner city areas has collapsed and the meters in many of the buildings have not been read for more than a year even though the bylaws stipulate they must be read every three months.

Many of the buildings have been converted from commercial and office space to residential blocks but this has not resulted in the rates being changed as the council still charges owners according to the previous rates structure resulting in hugely inflated rates charges.

Poma members point out that once the building is converted it is supposed to be rated on the residential scale although if there are shops on the ground floor the ratio would be 80% residential and 20% commercial.

However the council has failed to do the conversion and now owes millions in refunds to property owners for incorrect rates charges. Poma members have now decided to pay what they believe they owe the council and if the council then disconnects services to the building, the will apply to the courts for relief.

Revenue department spokesman Stan Maphologela demanded that supporting documents be supplied for the allegations before he would respond directly to Poma. He says the organisation should remember that the council has 1,3-million accounts and claims that he cannot respond to generalised allegations.

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