Unauthorised builders flout law at whim
Cape Town property owners have collectively been fined almost R70 000 in four months for land-use and building contraventions.
But city councillors have expressed outrage at the negligible size of individual fines, saying they do not constitute a sufficient deterrent.
A report presented to the Planning and Environment Portfolio Committee yesterday points to a brazen disregard for the city's planning and building restrictions.
The report details 47 cases that came before the city's municipal courts between October and February, and shows that some transgressors got fines as low as R500 and, in certain cases, got off scot-free despite a finding of guilt.
A Rondebosch property owner paid a R500 fine for performing "unauthorised building works", while in Plumstead someone erected a building without submitting plans - for which mere R1 000 fine was imposed as a penalty.
A similar fine was imposed for a building transgression in Rylands, while a Kenilworth property owner paid only R5 000 for using a property zoned as single residential for offices.
In Macassar, an owner used his premises - zoned as single residential - to house a spraypainting and panelbeating business. A fine of R1 000 or 90 days in prison was imposed, but the sentence was wholly suspended for three years.
In Turfhall Park, Highlands Estate and Philippi, people who erected buildings unlawfully received fines as low as R500.
Slightly higher fines for similar transgressions were imposed in Newlands, Wynberg, Plattekloof and Bishopscourt, with the highest fine for unlawful building work - R5 000 - ordered against a Milnerton property owner.
A fine of R5 000 was paid in Parow by a courier business operating out of a house zoned single residential, while a Kraaifontein nightclub got a suspended sentence for contravening the property's zoning rights.
Further zoning transgressions were perpetrated by a Bishop Lavis car sale and repair shop (fined R2 000), a Kuils River tuck shop (suspended sentence), a Strand "game shop" (suspended sentence) and a Table View jewellery business (fined R2 000).
Illegal land use and unauthorised building work has long been a headache for city authorities and the neighbours of those flouting the law.
Recent cases have seen neighbours of defiant property owners turn to the Cape High Court for relief.
Last year councillor JP Smith slammed the city's "inability" to ensure compliance with regulations after a Bantry Bay development rose to six storeys - obliterating its neighbour's ocean view - in contravention of zoning regulations.
Smith said that while other people went through the planning process but had their applications turned down, offenders were seen to be breaking the law and getting away with it.
The city's executive director of planning, Piet van Zyl, said that while the city enforced relevant regulations, this was complicated by transgressors who abused the legal process.
"It is not that there is no action taken, but people tend to use the latitude in due legal process to string matters out," he said.
Yesterday, councillor Gisela Jespersen expressed outrage over the small fines, labelling them "laughable".
"If a person builds something illegally, the fine is R1 000.
"That's nothing," she said, questioning whether there was anything the council could do to negotiate a new fine structure.
Van Zyl responded that a discussion was under way with the Department of Justice.
Cape Argus
Posted at 01:38PM Apr 07, 2010 by Editor in Residential |