Soweto landowners battle Joburg over water, electricity

Landowners from Zondi in Soweto have been forced out of the land they bought 14 years ago as the City of Joburg has continuously failed to provide them with electricity and bulk water supply. 

The city has, instead, charged them for rates and taxes for bare plots they never even lived in. The nine families have since taken the city to court where it has, on three occasions, been ordered to provide water and electricity to the land. However, these orders have not been adhered to. 

The piece of land previously belonged to the Johannesburg Property Company [JPC] before it was auctioned to the public in 2010. At the time, the city would invoice JPC for rates and for the upkeep of the land and this R4,3m bill was passed on to the new owners but the landowners fought this in court and had it written off. 

However, the plight of not having electricity and water has discouraged them from building on the land. Now some of them live in shacks elsewhere while others are in debt from loans they took out for building material after buying the land in 2010. 

Lebohang Motsumi, 44, bought a plot for R13,600 and is currently renting a shack for R1,200 a month.  

“We are overcrowded in that shack because I have family that is dependent on me. I can’t even provide proper housing for them because I have paid for this land but nothing is being done by the municipality to provide us with water and electricity,” Motsumi, who got his title deed in 2011, said.

Benjamin Raboshaba took a R50,000 loan in 2011 to buy building material to build his new home; however, the material has since rotten and become unusable. 

“Many of us have been left with debts and I have even gotten blacklisted because at some point I wasn’t working, so I was not making repayments. My debt is now sitting at over R100,000 with interest," he said. 

Dolly Motseothata said her latest bill for rates and taxes was R7,493.

“How do you bill people for rates and services when I don’t have anything on the land, when I don’t even have the services?" she asked.

The landowners also face a challenge of residents from near their plots who want a sports centre built on the property. 

City of Johannesburg spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane, said the city has made significant progress in implementing a court order issued in 2018.

“Regarding the installation of bulk services, a service provider was appointed, but unfortunately, the provider was chased away by the community and could not commence the work. The contract was subsequently cancelled. The city has reached out to the legislature to resolve the community issues with the project,” Modingoane explained.

He said the office of the chief whip of the council is coordinating efforts with all affected parties to find a solution that will allow the project to be implemented.

Motsumi argued that the city should hold liable community members who are encroaching on their land.

“We are being stopped by people who don’t have title deeds. We have even spoken with council and it says if somebody has a title deed, nobody has a right to stop them, that it's criminal to stop us ” said Motsumi.

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