City of Joburg’s property error causes havoc for homeowners

Scores of households in Bertrams, Johannesburg, are being threatened with service cut-offs, but they have not been receiving municipal bills because of the City of Johannesburg’s faulty property records.

The city’s allocated stand (erf) numbers do not coincide with those on the title deeds or with the street addresses of at least 22 properties, all of which are part of the Maurice Freeman Housing Scheme.

Besides the billing errors, the incorrect erf numbers mean homeowners struggle to get plans passed for renovations or if they wish to sell their homes. Yet the city contracted Gcwensa Attorneys to rectify the errors nine years ago.

A memo from Raymond Peterson, who was at the time a conveyancer at BBM Attorneys, to BBM director Maurizio Mariano states that the Johannesburg Deeds Office on 11 July 2015 informed him that Gcwensa Attorneys were attending to the “rectification transfer” of his client’s property in Bertrams.

Peterson was investigating the matter on behalf of Agnes Anderson, whose house is on erf 370 but whose title deed states she is the owner of erf 372. Erven 371 and 372, next door to her, are the premises of the Maurice Freeman Recreation Centre, a community hall owned by the city.

In his memo to his boss, Peterson states that when he contacted Gcwensa Attorneys, he “was advised that they had received instructions … that the entire block, amongst other blocks in the township of Bertrams are all undergoing rectification transfers and that a surveyor has been appointed to draw up new plans for the aforesaid properties”.

Anderson, who is a pensioner, said she had contacted BBM Attorneys after she tried to make alterations to her home in 2011 but was told by the city she could not go ahead with her plans as she had the wrong erf number. Despite her attempts for years to sort out her property details, her water bill, although posted to the right address, lists her property as 23 Thames Road, which is a public park on the next block on portion 34 of erf 561, yet bills her for erf 372, which is the recreation centre owned by the city. The bill does not show how much water was used over the billing period.

The recreation centre has been used by welfare organisation Boys and Girls Club South Africa since 2018. Attempts to get hold of Boys and Girls Club South Africa via the listed phone number were unsuccessful.

No lawyer rectifying errors since 2020

When contacted, Peterson, who has since become an advocate and left BBM Attorneys, told GroundUp the matter “rings a bell”, but it was so long ago he couldn’t remember the details.

GroundUp called the numbers listed for Gcwensa Attorneys, who appear to have their office in Mondeor, but there was no answer, and they do not appear to have a website.

Anderson was told by city official Gloria Nkosi, whom Peterson named in his memo as the person he dealt with in relation to Anderson’s case, that Gcwensa Attorneys had been appointed to rectify the erf number errors in 2015. Nkosi told Anderson the deeds office had terminated their relationship with Gcwensa attorneys in 2020 “for not doing any work”.

Nkosi said the city had no lawyer rectifying the erf number errors since 2020.

Questions around ownership

Despite Anderson’s title deed reflecting erf 372 whereas her property is erf 370 on Johannesburg’s property map, when GroundUp sent questions to the City of Johannesburg, Stanley Maphologela, director of communications and stakeholder engagement of Group Finance, stated: “From the City’s records it shows that all the properties stated in the query, that is erf 370 and 372 are owned by the City of Johannesburg and managed by Johannesburg Property Company (JPC).

“What also emerges is that the erf 372 property was previously owned by A Anderson and later in 2015 moved back to the City of Johannesburg. The alleged owner should produce the proof of ownership of the property they claim to own,” he said.

“Please refer all the questions to JPC for more clarity.”

Joburg Property Company spokesperson Lucky Sindane said the rectification of erf numbers “has to be done by the city’s legal department” and provided a cellphone number for spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane.

Modingoane did not answer his phone, call back in response to messages, or respond to emailed queries.

A screenshot of part of Bertrams from Johannesburg’s property map. The thin red lines depict erven. As can be seen, the properties between Thames and Frere roads straddle more than one erf.

The errors affect the properties on Thames and Frere roads bounded by Fuller Street and Bertrams Road, but may extend further.

Wrong erf, wrong rates

Anderson owes almost R400 000 for water, but she stopped paying some years ago on the advice of a city official in the finance department – after extensive efforts to try to get the city to fix the error – who told her to wait until her title deed is rectified.

This is because she is being expected to pay for water used by Boys and Girls Club South Africa, which is where Anderson says neighbours also obtain water when their water is cut off.

When GroundUp visited Bertrams on 6 March, there was a queue of people with containers accessing water from the recreation centre. People in the queue said their water had been cut off due to non-payment.

However, Anderson said last week that the city had since reconnected water to her neighbours’ properties through the installation of water management devices.

GroundUp has seen Anderson’s February invoice from the city, which not only reflects the wrong erf number and street address, but also lists the municipal valuation of her property at R1.7 million. Yet similar two and three-bedroom properties in Bertrams are on the market for less than R900 000. The apparent over-evaluation affects the amount she pays for property rates.

When GroundUp went to Bertrams again in May, George Simpson, who lives on Thames Road, said he had not received a municipal account for years but had recently received a letter from the city – which was delivered to the wrong address – stating he must pay more than R1 million or his services will be cut off.

On the City of Johannesburg’s own property map, Simpson’s house straddles stand 371 and stand 391. The house behind Simpson’s is also on stand 391.

As Simpson has not been receiving municipal accounts, he has no idea why the arrears are so high.

Simpson has been buying electricity through a pre-paid meter since municipal officials installed one in 2003. But he said last year officials replacing a stolen cable on his street had told him his meter was stolen. He said he had to pay a R4 700 fine, but his meter had not been replaced, and he could still buy electricity for it.

Straddling properties

All the houses situated between Thames and Frere roads similarly straddle two erven. Simpson’s neighbour Louise Venter, whose property straddles stand 390, 370, and the original roadway, says she receives accounts for her house and the one behind her, which is also on stand 390. Venter says termination of service letters have been stuck to their gate several times, with the wrong addresses and names on them, but their water has not yet been cut off.

Neighbours up and down the street relate similar stories of not receiving bills and then receiving letters claiming they owe hundreds of thousands of rand in arrears.

Ward councillor Carlos Da Rocha said he is aware of the predicament Anderson and her neighbours face. Da Rocha said the houses had not been built in line with the property divisions, resulting in some houses straddling two, or even three erven. He said he had put the matter on the Integrated Development Plan “several times”.

He said during his last term as councillor, he had asked the city to investigate the matter, but nothing had been done. – bbc.com