Not getting statements from COJ?

Introduction This article considers the various reasons that a consumer might not be receiving his or her municipal invoice, and includes some tips and recommendations for resolving these problems. #1.  No account After purchasing a property, purchasers expect to receive municipal invoices from their local municipality in respect of rates and taxes and services. In
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Can a government decision maker “change its mind”?

Introduction This article considers the legalities around a governmental decision maker’s conduct in taking a decision and thereafter revoking or amending that decision – i.e. where the decision maker “changes its mind”. Decisions that affect the public In this article we are only referring to decisions of a governmental decision maker that have external legal
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How to fix incorrect valuations/categorisations of properties “in between” property rolls

Introduction It often happens that property owners miss the deadline for objection to incorrect details on a property roll.  If municipal staff advise you that there is nothing you can do after the fact to fix the problem, they are wrong. This article describes the steps that a property owner can take to compel the
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The legalities around COJ imposing the “Illegal Use Tariff”

Introduction City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”) has taken the view that rating categorisations and tariffs are not linked to each other, and that this accordingly entitles it to change a consumer’s tariff without changing the consumer’s corresponding rating categorization as provided for in the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act (“the Act”).  The procedure
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Sectional Title Properties – does zoning or use determine the rating classification?

By Chantelle Gladwin, Partner and Ramon Pereira, Associate Introduction The law provides in the Local Government:  Municipal Property Rates Act 6 of 2004 that a municipality must determine its own rating policy, and that it may have reference to either zoning or use when classifying a property for rating purposes.  There are times when the
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How Many Queries Do I Have To Log??

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”) has recently stuck up posters in its walk-in centres advertising its “RSSC Query Escalation Process”. The RSSC Query Escalation Process In terms of the COJ’s latest RSSC Query Escalation Process (which is an internal policy that has been communicated to the public) an aggrieved customer must do the following
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An owner’s property rights where the property is more than 60 years old

This article discusses the court’s finding in the case of Gees v Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Western Cape and Others (974/2015) [2016] ZASCA 136; 2017 (1) SA 1 (SCA) (29 September 2016), in which it was held that the onerous conditions imposed by a heritage authority for the re-development of the property
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Judge, Jury and Executioner? Municipalities submitting rezoning applications to themselves!

This article considers the legal question of whether a municipality can submit an application for the rezoning of land that it owns to itself, consider that application in the first instance itself, and thereafter consider an appeal in respect of that application itself. These are essentially the facts of the case currently before the Johannesburg
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JUDGMENT HANDED DOWN 29 AUGUST 2017 IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CHANTELLE JORDAAN AND OTHERS V CITY OF TSHWANE METRPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND OTHERS CASE NUMBER: CCT 283/16, 293/16 AND 294/16

Click here for TUHF’s Press Release:  URGENT NOTIFICATION FROM SCHINDLERS 31 August 2017-Jordan s 118 The applicants in this matter were various consumers of various municipalities.  They had been refused the supply of services to their properties, or had had their service supply to such properties terminated, on the basis that they refused to make
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Case Note: City of Tshwane v Blom 433/2012 [433/12] 88 ZASCA (31 May 2013)

Summary The issue herein relates to whether sections 8(1) and 8(2) confers authority on a municipality to add to the list of categories of rateable property by creating in its rates policy a category called ‘non-permitted use’ or ‘illegal use’ and levy a higher rate accordingly. The issue arises because the Appellant has categorised the
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