Note to Editors: Find attached soundbites in English, Afrikaans, and Setswana by Cllr Johan Zerwick, DA Ward 4 Councillor in the JB Marks Local Municipality.
The JB Marks Local Municipality has become the single biggest obstacle to economic development and job creation in the City through its lack of administrative capacity in the Building Inspectorate to consider and approve building plans for new developments in the private sector.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is inundated with complaints from developers, homeowners, and service providers on the slow approval process of building plans by the JB Marks Municipality. The delay in approvals has a negative impact on developers, especially the rising costs of building materials which add an avoidable additional financial cost to the construction of new developments.
The position of the Building Control Officer at the Municipality’s Building Inspectorate responsible for the approval of building plans has been vacant since 1 July 2021. The delay in the approval of building plans is suffocating the entire construction industry value chain, from architects right through to contractors and building material suppliers.
It also contributes to the loss of employment opportunities for unemployed construction workers. This is unacceptable.
The DA will approach Administrator Dineo Mongwaketse, the Mayor, Cllr Mapule Mataboge, and the Municipal Manager, Mr Ofentse Masibi, to immediately begin the process to fill the vacancy, improve the approvals process and address the existing backlog.
The inability of the ANC led JB Marks Municipality to deliver this crucial service, further causes damage to the already constrained local economy and hampers job creation within the private sector, which despite the ANC’s best efforts to destroy the private sector, remains the single biggest role player in job creation and economic development.