SA Affordable Housing May - June 2019 // Issue: 76 | Page 37

LEGAL MATTERS
"If the current setup of the GIS
system at the City of Johannesburg
Metropolitan Municipality has
the unintended consequence of
discarding the existing legislation,
this system must be updated as
soon as possible to resonate with
the current law."
In the case of Plot & Plan transactions the municipality is
prepared to open a municipal account for the erf before its
transfer to the purchaser but with Turnkey transactions the
municipality refuses to open a municipal account, apparently
because of the fact that transfer of the Turnkey transactions
takes so much longer than the Plot & Plan transactions.
If the result is the same, namely the transfer of the serviced
erf into the name of the purchaser who purchased it in terms
of a sale agreement or offer to purchase, it is difficult to
understand why the municipality does not treat Turnkey
transactions in the same manner as Plot & Plan transactions.
CONCLUSION
If the current setup of the GIS system at the City of
Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality with regard to what
constitutes a registered erf has the unintended consequence
of discarding the existing legislation, this system must be
updated as soon as possible to resonate with the current law.
If not, it will remain the Achilles heel which hampers speedy
and efficient development and cause unrequired costs
and delays.
The establishment of the Johannesburg Developers
Forum, just like it did with the Tshwane Developers Forum
during 2018, can create a sound platform for engagement
between all stakeholders in the development space where
these type of issues, and specifically the unpremeditated
consequences of uninformed decisions, can be discussed
with municipal officials so that it can be resolved in line with
the principles of efficiency and good administration as
described in section 7 of the Spatial and Planning and Land
Use Management Act, 2013 (No16 of 2013).