PROPERTY: Plans to remedy Cape Town rates clearance woes

The City of Cape Town has been facing multiple problems with rates clearances and refunds. Numerous issues were identified and addressed at a meeting held with five members of the Cape Law Society Property Law Committee and the deputy Mayor and senior City Officials on 19 May 2014. The first reason for the delays in having rates clearances issued is that City officials prioritized amending minor defects in rejected applications over issuing proper applications but if defective applications are rejected immediately, turnaround time of about 10 days could be achieved. Secondly, complaints are made at several levels thereby duplicating work done by several City officials hampering efficiency. To solve the problem, the City will soon identify a specific department to deal with all problems and queries. The third issue raised was that certain firms “consistently enjoy faster turnaround time that others.” The City is aware of this and is monitoring the situation which has already led to disciplinary action of certain staff members. Another reason for the delay relates to the advanced electronic signature in terms of the Chief Registrar Circular 1. This does not only mean the insertion of the electronic signature but requires the process to be evaluated and verified by the approving institution, of which there are only two in the country, before the advanced electronic signature can be released.

The problems related to refunds are as a result of fraudulent behavior caused by syndicates who alter banking details so payment is made into their bank accounts. The City’s forensic department has managed to facilitate arrests in this regard. As a result of fraud, the City intends to eliminate manual application and to rely only on electronic clearance certificates and then only with attorneys registered as business partners on the City’s system. The City also intends to limit refunds via the conveyancer to the trust account or the clients’ nominated account with the necessary proof of account and/or identification.

The City plans on implementing a “computer run” in the near future to deal with most of the backlog with “long outstanding matters” (those dated before March 2014) to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. A follow up meeting to assess the progress in relation to the turnaround times and the refund payments has been scheduled for mid June 2014.

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