Do we care enough? Have we given up?

I promised myself I would write a positive blog and not go down into the downwards spiral of complaining which is often seen in my industry, but I would like to ask a couple of questions.

The Jo'burg city council decided to upgrade their West Rand systems to SAP in October 2009. It has been a total disaster for all involved except it seems the people who are responsible. According to Kerry Taylor Director of Rates On Line, "On the 11 January 2010 (2 months later) the first applications were accepted for the issuing of clearance figures on the new SAP system. One person in the clearance department had received training and could capture the applications. As of the 18th January 2010 the next two staff members in the clearance department received training and began allocating figures to the staff who would be issuing the figures ultimately. There still poses a problem though. Up until today only a few of the staff have received training."

We have experienced a total bottle neck in property registrations since October 2009 - there are millions tied up in this mess and it seems nobody is prepared to do anything about it! Have we given up and will we just except this total incompetence?

What amazes me is that there was no class action against the Jo'burg council, if you look at people affected.

Firstly, we have the financial sector who have granted mortgage bonds worth millions on these new properties. These funds have been allocated to these mortgage bonds and are not earning any return while it is in the process. Why is there no pressure from the banks?

Secondly, we have the legal professionals - the slump in the property market since 2008 has had a significant influence on their bottom line if you just look at the way they cut back on their staff numbers. The market has started recovering and they now also have fees locked up in this mess. Why is the legal fraternity so helpless in this situation?

Thirdly, we have the estate agents - the few of us that survived the disaster of 2009 are now sitting with our commissions frozen. Why do the Estate Agents Affairs Board and the Association of Estate Agents not act - is this proof that they really as toothless as we thought? Also what about the large Agencies like RE/MAX, Pam Golding, Chas Everit, etc? Are they too busy fighting about turf that they can't stand together to fight this incompetence?

Fourthly is the normal citizens of which you and I are members - are we just going to accept what is being done to us? We go through the trauma of selling our homes and finally everything falls in place for us to move to our new homes with all the stress that is involved with that only to realize that we will now have to pay occupational rent until the staff at the council decide they feel like working? We are also forced to live in our new homes without doing any of the renovations we planned because we will stay tenants until the council staff decide to issue a clearance certificate for us.

You have to ask what has been done to resolve this?

As to my knowledge the banks have done nothing to date.

The Property Law Committee of the Johannesburg Attorney Association have drawn up a list of complaints and had talks with the council, twice as far as I know - with no effect that I have seen.

To my knowledge, the estate agencies have done nothing as a collective, neither have the Estate Agents Affairs Board nor the Association of Estate Agents.

I took photographs of one of my client's meters, she went to the police station and did an affidavit that she had done her own meter readings and that the documents attached were a true reflection of the meters. She took these to the council and was assured that her information was captured - nothing. She went to ask her local councilor for assistance - nothing.

The DA had a meeting with residents with no results - I doubt if they have even bothered to contact the people who attended the meeting. To me it seemed like the ideal situation for them to baffle the meeting with political propaganda - they need to be re-elected soon!

The DA staged a protest against Nedbank last week in protest of the bank declining to grant a commercial bond to finance the resale of an office block. The message I take from this is that the councilors know that it will have no effect to address their colleagues in the council and thus don't even bother!

What do we need to do to rectify this?

Is the council waiting for someone in the private sector like FNB to volunteer to send FNB staff to do their work while they sit and eat KFC like what happened when Outsurance started doing the Traffic Police's work and now KFC is fixing the potholes. Where will this end?

Is this the definition of nationalisation the young politicians are asking for?