News24 | Joburg property valuation objections extended as metro's emails are still down

Johannesburg MMC for Finance Dada Morero.

• The Johannesburg property valuation objection process has been extended as municipal emails are still faulty.
• The deadline for the process was mid-September but it has now been extended to the end of November.
• Internal municipal emails have not worked for many employees for more than four weeks. 

The City of Johannesburg is still in the process of completing valuation objections on the property rate increase.

The deadline has been extended until the end of November as the municipality's emails are still not working.

Finance MMC Dada Morero said the extension was to finalise the last of the 40 000 objections to the General Valuation Roll 2023.

The process was meant to conclude mid-September.

Councillor Tim Truluck said this meant residents still have time to submit an appeal.

"Due to issues with emails, the deadline for submitting an appeal on your valuation objection outcome has been extended to 30 November."

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The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has been working on a Johannesburg property valuations survey after receiving 3 500 complaints from residents about their homes being revaluated excessively.

Meanwhile, the city's emails have not worked properly since the Johannesburg Metro Building was vacated after a fire caused by faulty transformers erupted on 16 September, leaving it without electricity.

It has now been more than four weeks since some employees last had email access, making internal communications and work emails impossible. 

Many of the city's 48 000 employees worked from the Metro Building, and it is working to find alternative office space for them while the refurbishment takes place.