Bushbuckridge Municipality’s 2019 General Valuation Roll

Introduction Property valuation rolls are quite complicated.  Below is a brief explanation of how valuations and valuation rolls work. Bushbuckridge’s 2019 General Valuation Roll The Bushbuckridge Municipality’s (“the Municipality”) 2019 General Valuation Roll (“2019 GV”) is open for inspection.  It is open from 15 February 2019 to 19 April 2019.  It is available for inspection
Read more
No Comments

Cape Town Municipality’s 2018 General Valuation Roll

By Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner and Lauren Squier, Candidate Attorney Introduction Property valuation rolls are quite complicated.  Below is a brief explanation of how valuations and valuation rolls work. Cape Town’s 2018 General Valuation Roll Cape Town Municipality’s (“the Municipality”) 2018 General Valuation Roll (“2019 GV”) is open for inspection.  It is open from 21 February
Read more
No Comments

Water Heating Systems – Legislative Amendments

By Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner and Kyle Venter, Candidate Attorney Introduction Are we in hot water?  The image that immediately springs to mind is that of a lobster being so slowly boiled alive that it doesn’t realise what’s happening. Amidst the never-ending Eskom debacle of spiralling tariffs, load shedding and tales of corruption our Legislature has
Read more
No Comments

7 Common Mistakes to avoid when Cancelling a Lease Agreement

  By Anja van Wijk, Senior Associate, and Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner Introduction This article deals with the 7 most common mistakes made in cancelling an occupant’s right to reside on the property.   Cancelling the Occupant’s right The Constitution[1] provides that no one may be evicted from their home without a court order authorizing the
Read more
No Comments

Expropriation #4: The Expropriation Bill of 21 December 2018

By Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner and Anja van Wijk, Senior Associate   Introduction This article is one in a series on expropriation and looks at some of the fundamental legal issues surrounding expropriation without compensation (“EWC”). This article examines the content and potential legal impact of the newly published Expropriation Bill.   What is the Expropriation
Read more
No Comments

How to Log a Query, Dispute or Complaint with COJ

Introduction This is part 2 of an “idiots guide” to logging queries, disputes and complaints with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”).  In part 1 we discussed what kind of complaint, dispute or query ‘counts’ for the purposes of allowing a customer to delay payment or avoid credit control action. In this part we
Read more
No Comments

Can a Consumer “Contract Out” of a Right to Receive a Pre-Termination Notice?

By Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner and Maike Gohl, Senior Associate Introduction Our offices have taken note of an alarming increase in the number of SMS’s sent to clients by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”) advising that that their services would be disconnected without notice, due to an alleged breach of the payment terms of
Read more
No Comments

eThekwini Municipality v Mounthaven Proprietary Limited [2018] ZACC 43 (31 October 2018)

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND The eThekwini Municipality (the “Applicant”) sought leave to appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (the “SCA”) wherein the SCA unanimously confirmed the dismissal by the High Court of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Local Division, Durban (the “High Court”) of the Applicant’s application to compel Mountaven (Pty) Ltd (the “Respondent”)
Read more
No Comments

What Counts as a “Dispute” with a Municipality?

Introduction This is part 1 of an “idiots guide” to logging queries, disputes and complaints with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“COJ”). Although one might question why it is necessary to write an article explaining what appears to be such a simple concept, we regularly receive reports of customers not being able to take
Read more
No Comments

The Great Escape Clause – Section 110 of the Systems Act

By Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Partner and Dean Wright, Partner Introduction This article examines the legal effect of section 110 of the Local Government:  Municipal Systems Act (“the Systems Act”) in relation to a municipality’s burden of proof during litigation.  The (very alarming) section reads as follows: Certain certificates to be evidence In legal proceedings against a
Read more
No Comments