Letter: Call for transparency and fairness in land use and property valuations

The Citizen

15-05-2025

Letter: Call for transparency and fairness in land use and property valuations
Alex Forster writes via email:
Thank you MMC Sizwe for presenting the Land Use Scheme at the Heidelberg Town Hall on May 7, providing the community with an opportunity to voice their concerns regarding land use.
Additionally, I thank you for providing a platform through which concerned community members and stakeholders have 28 days to raise their concerns and complaints to your office via email, and for assuring that these community concerns will be addressed and the necessary attention afforded to each concern/complaint.
Firstly, as was pointed out in the presentation, the writing on the presentation handed out to attendees is so small that one cannot read the presentation, even using a magnifying glass.
Secondly, the community was only notified of the presentation on short notice.
Had the notification of the presentation been a little earlier on the website, it would have enabled the community to table pertinent concerns or complaints. I heard of the presentation on May 6.
As Mr Wiersma pointed out, the public notification was only placed on the Lesedi website on the April 29.
I feel I did not express myself fully at the presentation and will therefore use this opportunity to table the concerns/complaints of affected smallholder property owners.
Smallholder title deeds expressly limit the number of dwelling houses built on each smallholding.
As Mr Loydd, the town planner, informed us: 'Should a property owner wish to build additional dwellings, the municipality must be notified and authorisation should be obtained from the municipality'.
I was shocked when one lady voiced her concerns regarding 72 rooms built for student accommodation on a residential property; buildings being erected 22cm from the border with another residential property, and buildings being erected within the flood line boundary.
This revelation immediately brought to mind a writing in the September 16, 2024, of the Citizen Newspaper, 'Densification is eroding the quality of life'. This writing indicates that three dwellings erected on a residential plot are acceptable to municipalities and, for that matter, the building of 72 rooms for student accommodation on a plot is equally acceptable.
The writing points out that the interests of developers take precedence over the rights of residents.
Smallholder title deeds expressly restrict the number of animals which one may keep on a smallholding.
An exceeding great concern is how Lesedi can start charging smallholders increased property tariffs of between 300% and 900%?
The Lesedi Municipality would like the smallholder to believe that keeping 10 chickens on the smallholding means that such property is being expressly used for residential purposes, and therefore, the municipality is entitled to increase the property rates with these exorbitant increases. The municipality justifies charging small holders the 1:1 residential property rate instead of the 1:0.25 rate applicable to the agricultural properties rate.
How is it that Lesedi advises those concerned smallholder property owners that this was communicated to them in a section 49 notification?
This is not true.
Those very few smallholders who did receive the section 49 notification were not alerted to the fact that rates would increase by between 300% and 900%.
The section 49 notification reads as follows: 'Kindly note that your property location of agricultural holding —— AH is now valued at R…… and categorised as residential properties, and will commence to bill property rates on the above value as from July 1, 2024'.
Here I would like to bring to your attention that in the 2019-2023 Valuation Roll where the smallholder properties were already categorised as residential.
The smallholder is still categorised as residential on the 2024-2029 Valuation Roll
So, once again, I ask why the 300% to 900% tariff increases on smallholders?
I again think of the Citizen News writing: 'Densification is eroding the quality of life', and I think of the gentleman and the lady at the Land Use Presentation who were expressing their first-hand experience of how this densification of residential properties is happening and how it is adversely affecting:
1. The ability to sell properties
2. Lack of proper hygienic sewerage systems
3. Presence of open and raw sewerage running through properties
4. Absence of street lights
5. Neglect of cutting the grass
6. Infiltration of crime, which densification allows into the area
7. Absolute destruction of the quality of life needed to sustain healthy living areas to attract investment and promote economic growth in the area.
On behalf of all smallholders, I respectfully request that Lesedi speedily address the smallholders' assessment rates dilemma, and just as speedily rectify what is obviously an injustice to all smallholders, and to revoke the current 2024-2029 Valuation Roll.
MMC Sizwe, I note your willingness to assist property owners and the promise to address all issues. I thank you for encouraging concerned property owners and stakeholder attendees to email concerns to your office.
You have assured the Land Use Presentation attendees that emails will be answered, not like the gentleman who raised the concern that an email informing your office of building rubble on the pavement. A year later, the rubble is still on the pavement, and his email was not been responded to.
I will therefore cc many of the concerned community members and stakeholders I know of, and encourage each one to take up your offer. Additionally, I urge each property owner affected by the assessment rate hike to assist as much as they can in the remedying of the assessment rate contention.
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