It’s been reported on various occasions that the Mogale City Local Municipality’s (MCLM) Town Planning Department has a huge backlog in signing off on building plans, and that it has been the case for some time.
As with other municipal stories the News has been reporting on, the MCLM’s communication department was approached immediately. Unlike in other cases, the News did not get feedback within the three days requested deadline. Extension was given thrice; the first time the MCLM’s emails were reportedly down for a few days. The second time, “The manager for Building Control [Building Development] promised to have a response first thing tomorrow”.
The third time, “The Municipal Manager had external meetings yesterday, so he hasn’t gone through the draft answers”.
The News tried to push for an answer on that day, but none was provided even in the following days. After nine days, the News went ahead with an investigation based on the various complaints it had received.
One such complaint was from residents of Panorama Estate in Rangeview who have reportedly been waiting from several months till up to a year for permission to make small alterations to their homes. Unfortunately, it seems that they are not alone, and this is the norm in Krugersdorp.
Margaret and Michael Basson bought a home in the estate for Margaret’s parents, also (coincidentally) named Margaret and Michael van Gruenen (hereafter referred to as Marge and Mike). Marge wants to sit on her patio during the day and spend time with nature and the birds. Most of the time, the sun is just too bright and hot. Margaret and Michael simply wanted to extend the patio roof with two panels; a simple job, they noted, but one that they haven’t been able to do for nearly nine months. This is how long their request for permission has been sitting at the Building Development office. They said that 13 other residents in the estate also have plans pending at the office.
“One of the owners’ plans were submitted in November 2018,” Margaret noted dejectedly. She explained that everyone has been experiencing these problems, and no matter how hard they try to get answers, “… there is always an excuse, usually that there is a big backlog,” she explained.
The News jounalists decided to visit the office to see for themselves whether the situation is as bad as people claimed. First, an online search for office hours was fruitless. On the Building Development website the only office hours given are for the call centre from 7.30am to 4pm. It is assumed that the office would operate during normal office hours (until about 4pm). It’s difficult to find information on office hours of any of MCLM’s departments and sections though, but a basic Google search lists the times as 7.30am to 4pm. When the News arrived at the Building Development office at 3pm on a Wednesday, we were informed that they had closed and locked the doors at 2.45pm, and that that was their usual closing time. Looking through the gate and speaking to the staff, we noticed very large stacks of folders all over the counter tops.
“There are heaps of files in the hallways, with the content of some of them no longer in the files,” Margaret said when relating their experience while walking through the office.
With all this in mind, the News has serious questions: Why does it take so long to sign off on simple building plans? What has caused the department to fall so far behind? Why do they close so early in the afternoon when they have months of backlogged documentation to work through?
It should be noted that the News usually has a good working relationship with MCLM, but the way this inquiry is being handled goes against our past experiences with MCLM.
The News has on-record sources talking about their experience with the Building Development office.
But, the answers to the 12 questions the News has sent to the municipality are very important to get to the root of the problems at Building Development.
These questions were sent to MCLM, but they remain unanswered.
1) What is the Planning Department’s official name?
2) What is the process from when a plan is submitted to when it is approved/ not approved?
3) We’ve received reports that they are so far behind on approving plans that the folders are stacked all over the office, even in the hallway. Any comment on this?
4) What is the cause for this backlog?
5) What does this department need to catch up with the backlog and not get this far behind again?
6) There are reports of people waiting about nine months (since February 2019) for approval to extend a patio roof by two panels. Another noted they’ve been waiting since November 2018. 13 people in the same estate reportedly have been waiting months for their plans to be approved. How much longer will they have to wait?
7) As a follow-up question, how long can someone expect to wait for their plans to be processed?
8) Is there a plan to get the backlog under control?
9) Is there something that the public can do to help lessen the backlog in the future?
10) Another problem reported to me is that documents slide out of folders and get mixed up, setting back the work even more. Is there a problem with the current filing system, and can something be done to rectify this?
11) Does the department have enough staff and is the building large enough to handle this large work load?
12) Any other comment Mogale City would like to add?
