Illegal Kleinfontein township gets free pass on punitive rates
· Citizen
The illegal Afrikaner settlement of Kleinfontein outside Pretoria is one step closer to formalisation following a settlement confirmed last week in the chambers of Judge Brenda Neukircher in the High Court in Pretoria.
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Among others, it provides that Kleinfontein will no longer have to pay property rates at a punitive rate on properties for unpermitted use of its land – in other words, virtually all the properties in Kleinfontein – and that such charges for the past two years will be reversed.
This provision has raised eyebrows.
Ben Espach, head of valuations at Rates Watch, believes owners of other properties classified as “unpermitted use” for property rates purposes could insist on similar reprieve.
The Kleinfontein Residents Association (KIV) is further asking why the settlement was made an order in the judge’s chambers without its knowledge, while it had already filed an application to join the litigation and was still waiting for a response.
According to the board of Kleinfontein Aandeleblok (KA), the body that manages the settlement, the matter was heard in chambers at the request of its attorneys to enable them to comply with one of the conditions, namely to submit the development application before 31 August.
Otherwise, it would only have been placed on the unopposed roll in December. Law firm Hurter Spies Inc informed the acting judge president that Marivate Attorneys, the metro council’s attorneys, supported the request.
Metro has turned a blind eye for decades
Kleinfontein was developed on a farm near Cullinan and comprises, among others, about 600 houses, a school, an old-age home, a shopping centre, sports grounds and a light industrial area.
The required rezoning, subdivision and township establishment never took place, but the metro council turned a blind eye for decades.
It is one of about 20 unapproved developments in Tshwane, and the metro reportedly forgoes at least R3 billion a year in property rates because the land has not been subdivided and properly developed.
In August 2024, the KIV obtained a high court order instructing the metro council to enforce the law in Kleinfontein.
This was aimed at speeding up formalisation and providing certainty to residents, who currently do not hold title deeds but merely share in a share-block scheme.
Reclassification
The metro council shortly afterwards had the land on which the development took place reclassified from agricultural land to “unpermitted use”, which means the community’s property rates bill has since been about 7.5 times higher than it would be for ordinary residential property.
Until then, Kleinfontein had been rated even lower, namely as agricultural land, which is a quarter of what owners of residential properties pay.
The KA and the metro council subsequently sued each other. Both these cases have now been settled.
The KA welcomed the court order confirming the settlement and said it brings “an orderly and constructive end to the dispute between the parties and creates a clear framework for the formalisation of the Kleinfontein settlement”.
“It creates the opportunity to move forward together [with the metro council] in the interests of everyone involved at Kleinfontein.”
The KA further committed “to seeing the formalisation process through to the end, so that every resident of Kleinfontein can enjoy certainty”.
Rates policy
Espach points out that Tshwane’s rates policy allows no discretion in the categorisation of property as “unpermitted use”.
It is based on the facts – whether the purpose for which the property is being used corresponds with its zoning or not.
The court order brings relief to Kleinfontein residents, but changes nothing about the fact that the land in Kleinfontein is still being used unlawfully, says Espach.
Other residents who find themselves in the same boat are not currently receiving the same relief, and it is not clear how this distinction can be justified, he says. This depends on the legal basis for setting aside the classification, which is not disclosed in either the order or the press statement issued by the KA.
He adds that Tshwane’s rates policy is specifically based on the principle of equity – all categories of property and categories of owners must be treated.
He says the City of Tswhane’s rates policy is expressly based on the principle of fairness – all categories of property and categories of owners must be treated fairly in relation to one another.
“The settlement could potentially be used as a precedent by owners of other properties categorised as unpermitted use to declare a dispute with the Tshwane metro council,” says Espach.
The council itself reclassified 713 properties across the city in July last year because of unpermitted land use.
Espach said at the time that a property valued at R1 million that was previously rated as residential would, under the 2023/24 tariffs, have paid R1 016 a month in property rates (before any rebates). If the same property were reclassified because of unpermitted land use, this would increase to R7 628.
Lex Middelberg, councillor for the Republican Conference of Tshwane, wrote to Tshwane municipal manager Johann Mettler to object to the metro council agreeing to an order that reverses the reclassification of Kleinfontein because of unpermitted use.
He argues that Kleinfontein should have followed the prescribed objection and appeal processes if it was unhappy with the classification.
He describes the circumstances of the settlement being reached in the judge’s chambers and without informing the KIV as “strange” and says he is investigating the matter further.
Court order
The court order places substantial obligations on the KA, with strict deadlines.
They must:
- By 31 August, submit a new development application for nine parcels of land without any restrictions on the title deeds. The municipality will attempt to accommodate the existing buildings and structures and act in the public interest, but if this is impossible, it may require structures to be demolished, relocated, upgraded or altered;
- The KA must demonstrate that there are adequate private services in Kleinfontein, as the development is outside the urban area where the council provides bulk infrastructure. This will not, however, exempt the KA from the obligation to pay development charges;
- All building work in Kleinfontein must cease, and no further share blocks may be issued while the development application is pending;
- Once township establishment has been approved, the KA must submit building plans for all the buildings there within six months, and no property may be transferred without approved building plans, and
- The KA must formally serve the court order on all its shareholders.
Moneyweb approached the Tshwane metro council for comment but by deadline had not received a reply.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.