FOLLOW-UP: Tenants of council-owned flats want deeds

“Determining an equal, one-size-fits-all rental payment policy for council housing stock would invariably exclude certain persons from participating in the scheme based purely on their income as a determinant,” said CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.

The statement came after Benoni City Times posed questions to the city.

The residents of 11 council-owned flats in Actonville protested outside the Actonville Library on April 3 to express their dissatisfaction with rising rental costs, mounting debt, a lack of maintenance and electricity cuts.

The City Times reported last week that residents, some living in Delhi, Karachi, Agra, Aligarh, Ajmery, Bangalore, Lahore, Aloe, Azalea, Flora and Primrose courts for more than 40 years, are calling for the abolishment of leases and scrapping of debt at the 538 CoE rental stock units.

According to Dlamini, the Benoni Town Council erected the first flats in the 1940s, with more added to the council’s rental stock in 1969.

Flora Court resident Rochell Crestwell told the City Times she grew up in the flats but could face eviction after several attempts to transfer the lease held by her late parents failed.

“When my parents died, I applied to have the lease transferred to me, but the metro refused,” she said.

“The metro says I am an illegal tenant, and rumours are circulating that we are on an eviction list, which they will implement after the election.”

Dlamini said leased property remains the property of the State and does not form part of the deceased’s estate.

“The CoE’s rental payment policy provides that a child must be nominated to take over the lease agreement and rental payments should the original lease-holders die,” he said.

“Upon the tenant’s death, the nominated person must enter into a new lease agreement with the city, reflecting their personal details and the rental amount charged on the unit in line with their economic profile.

“Once a unit is available, it will be assigned to them based on the affordability scale.

“Should the nominated person not be interested in continuing the agreement, it will be terminated, and all the outstanding amounts will be claimed from the deceased’s estate. The Department of Social Development will be requested to assist in cases where the children are under 21 and have no other source of income.”

Ownership
During the protest, Veegee Pillay, a resident of Karachi Court since 1976, said that in 1998, the metro informed residents living in the flats for more than two decades that they would receive the title deeds for their units.

“It has been 26 years since that promise, and I still do not own my three-bedroom flat. Instead, our rent has been increased drastically and continues to rise,” Pillay said.

Dlamini said council-owned rental stock would not change ownership and would continue to be the municipality’s asset, as provided for by the Community Residential Programme.

“However, consultations are being held to secure funding to implement the Regularisation of Residential Properties Project.”

Responding to allegations that the buildings are not maintained regularly, resulting in fungus and mould growing unabated due to continuously leaking water pipes, Dlamini said, “Resource constraints make it difficult to conduct routine maintenance.

“The maintenance plan, scheduled each financial year, is based on the service breakdowns. The current resource-constrained environment makes it difficult to conduct.”

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