Outa in court bid to declare Joburg property power broker Helen Botes delinquent director over Usindiso fire

Daily Maverick

a day ago

The anti-corruption organisation is demanding that Helen Botes – who has been implicated in various other crises in the city – face immediate and decisive accountability.
Anti-corruption organisation Outa served delinquent director court papers on Johannesburg Metro strongwoman Helen Botes on Wednesday, 13 August. The papers relate to Botes's negligence in the Usindiso fire in August 2023, in which 76 people were killed.
A second case involves Botes's implication by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in Covid-19 procurement criminality, where R18.6-million was spent on dodgy companies. These providers failed to do the work on City property, and the spending took place even when most City staffers were working from home. (See Mark Heywood's report here.)
Botes, like a cat with nine lives, has been implicated in various other crises in the city, including the abandonment of the Metro Centre and the leasing of expensive buildings from an ANC cadre. This property cadre has on several occasions been in arrears in paying the City's bills, as reported here. But, as a powerful member of the ANC region, she has escaped censure.
Botes has been the CEO of the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) and a director of the City entity since 2008, and in that role has consolidated her position as an official and political power broker. She was appointed acting COO of Johannesburg in January in unprocedural circumstances, but with Tshepo Makola now back in his position, it's unclear what Botes is doing.
JPC spokesperson Lucky Sindane confirmed that Botes has not returned to the entity as CEO. 'The JPC board is studying the court action and will consider its options,' he said.
The board is chaired by Simon Motha, who is the deputy chairperson of the ANC Johannesburg region. Mayor Dada Morero is the chairperson.
Legal action
Outa demands that Botes face immediate and decisive accountability.
'Public officials trusted with life-and-death responsibilities cannot be allowed to walk away from catastrophes without consequences. We owe it to the victims, their families and all residents of South Africa to ensure those responsible are held accountable, and that such a disaster (the fire) never happens again,' said Outa executive director, advocate Stefanie Fick.
Fick is using the Companies Act, which allows for an application to the court to declare a director delinquent.
'A court must make an order of delinquency if a director grossly abused this position, inflicted harm on the company or acted with gross negligence, wilful misconduct or breach of trust,' she said.
The organisation successfully used a delinquency application against the late Dudu Myeni, who was a wrecking ball at SAA, in 2020. That case took three or four years to finalise, said Outa's Wayne Duvenage, but he added that this case should not take that long since the organisation's standing to bring the application has been decided and is now case law.
Outa has used the findings of the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry (chaired by Judge Sisi Khampepe) as the cornerstone of its application to court. Daily Maverick sent questions to the City about the Outa case, and its answers will be added once received.
The JPC manages a portfolio of 29,001 properties with a book value of R10.2-billion, many of which are in poor condition due to inadequate management, as evidenced by the Usindiso shelter, the Metro Centre, the Randburg Civic Centre and numerous other properties. (See this report from Carte Blanche, for example.) The City's attempts to squeeze more money out of leaseholders on public properties and green spaces in Johannesburg have caused an uproar, as reported here by Ed Stoddard and Julia Evans.
The Khampepe commission found that:
The board of directors of the JPC must consider taking appropriate action against Botes, the chief executive of the JPC, for the total disregard of managing the Usindiso building despite knowledge of the disastrous state since at least 2019;
Botes gave evidence and answered questions by the evidence leader (of the commission) and, in cross-examination, made concessions indicating awareness of the following relevant facts spanning from at least 2015 until the fire occurred. Since at least 2015, Usindiso Ministries had vacated the building; the building was not zoned for residential purposes; the building had been hijacked, remained occupied illegally and was overcrowded; crime was rife in the building, and the building was not habitable; the building had illegal electricity connections and water consumption; the building lacked firefighting equipment and installations; and the JPC had failed to maintain the property since 2003; and
The evidence of the former residents detailed herein indicates without any shadow of a doubt that the Usindiso building was dangerous or showed signs of becoming hazardous to life or property. In contrast, the evidence presented by Botes elsewhere demonstrates that the JPC and, by extension, the COJ were aware that the Usindiso building posed a danger to life or property, yet no steps appear to have been taken to uphold applicable laws to ensure public safety. DM