The City of Tshwane has set up a central email address to strictly deal with complaints related to illegal building works that will be investigated, and forwarded to municipal courts for possible prosecution.
Economic Development and Spatial Planning MMC Hannes Coetzee said a dedicated service inbox was for violations related to national building regulations.
This, he said, had been necessitated by numerous enquiries and complaints regarding illegal building works, which includes alterations and amendments to buildings and those that have been occupied without occupation certificates.
Previously, he said, enquiries were received through various channels, making it difficult to track progress and provide timely feedback.
“To manage this, our department has created a central email address, bpcontraventions@tshwane.gov.za to strictly deal with illegal building works,” Coetzee said.
He encouraged residents to ensure that the property is identifiable by providing an accurate property description in the subject line when reporting illegal building.
For example, complainants should specify the erf number and the place where the property is located, including the street address if available.
Coetzee said: “For investigation purposes we also require the complainant’s contact information and any available evidence. The City will only take appropriate action on matters that are deemed to have merit in accordance with the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977 (Act 103 of 1977).”
He said once the complaint has been filed all the required information, it may be sent to the municipal courts for further handling.
“Land-use contraventions must also be reported at the dedicated service box at landusecontraventions@tshwane.gov.za for investigation,” he said
Coetzee appealed to all stakeholders to forward all national building regulations-related violations to the central email addresses provided for prompt reaction.
Early this year the council approved amended the municipal land-use management by-law of 2016, which promised to bring about speedy resolutions to grievances lodged by disgruntled developers or individuals who have applied for use of land in Tshwane.
At the time of the approval it was highlighted that at least 11 land-use application appeals had been completed at the municipal appeals tribunal within five meetings under Coetzee’s leadership.
The by-law was hailed as a step towards helping residents become compliant and ensuring that the City is in a better position to recover much-needed finances owed to it due to non-compliance.
Coetzee said the by-law followed his department’s review of key features in the by-law to facilitate growth and development in Tshwane.
“These features include enabling communities to do land development applications at a lower cost, thus limiting advertising in the costly provincial gazette,” he said.
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