Major city a step closer to taking property without paying in South Africa
Tshwane is moving ahead with a tougher plan to deal with abandoned, unsafe and hijacked buildings. The city is now closer to using the Expropriation Act to take properties where owners refuse to act.
The municipality has already issued 33 contravention notices worth R165,000 to owners who have allowed their buildings to become dangerous or neglected. But stronger powers are on the way.
A new Problem Building and Property Management Bylaw has been drafted, approved by council, and is now out for public comment.
If adopted early next year, it will give the city the authority to force owners to fix their buildings, and, if they still do nothing, to expropriate those properties.
The by-law forms part of Tshwane’s expanding bad buildings programme, which started in the inner city and will soon extend into Sunnyside, Pretoria West and other key corridors.
MMC for corporate and shared services, Kholofelo Morodi, said the new by-law finally gives Tshwane clear legal backing to go after absentee landlords and owners of buildings that have become unsafe or hijacked.
She said the city cannot afford to keep losing millions in unpaid water, electricity and rates from buildings that have collapsed into disrepair or have been taken over illegally.
Under the new rules, building owners will first be issued compliance notices. These notices require them to fix safety problems, deal with illegal occupation or restore basic maintenance.
Morodi said these notices are meant to push owners to take responsibility for their properties. If they ignore them, the city will use the Expropriation Act to take control of the buildings.
Tshwane first revealed earlier this year that it intended to use the Act for abandoned and derelict buildings.
The Expropriation Act, signed into law in January, outlines how the government can acquire land or property and under what circumstances compensation may or may not be required.
One of the key features of the law is that it allows expropriation in the public interest, and this is the basis on which Tshwane plans to act.
Concerns after comments made by the Deputy President
Morodi said the goal is to protect residents, reclaim the city and stop financial losses from buildings that are no longer being managed.
“You can expropriate if it’s for public purposes, and the act allows us to expropriate if it’s in the public interest,” she said.
However, comments made this week by Deputy President Paul Mashatile have raised concerns about how far the national government intends to go with the Act.
During a parliamentary Q&A, Mashatile reiterated that the ANC has not abandoned its commitment to land expropriation without compensation.
Responding to a question from the EFF, Mashatile said that the ANC is pro-expropriation of land without compensation, and it has never deviated from that.
In a follow-up exchange with MK Party MP Brian Molefe, Mashatile said the ANC still wants to pursue this policy.
He added that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act specifically to allow the government to continue with expropriation even after it failed to secure enough votes to amend Section 25 of the Constitution.
“We are pushing much faster to expropriate land,” he said. These comments have heightened concerns about how the Act may be applied in the future.
AfriForum’s Head of Public Relations, Ernst van Zyl, said it is worrying that some still downplay the risk to private property rights despite repeated statements from senior ANC leaders.
He said the party’s own comments make it clear that the Expropriation Act can be used to seize property without compensation and that the public should not be misled about this.
AfriForum said it will continue warning South Africans and the international community about what it believes is the growing threat to property rights.
For now, Tshwane insists its focus is limited to derelict, dangerous and hijacked buildings that pose real risks to the public.
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