Former Johannesburg Property Company boss Helen Botes leaves city council

Johannesburg’s politically powerful property boss Helen Botes is no longer employed by the city, spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane has confirmed.

Last week, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) started delinquent director proceedings against Botes, who has been at the centre of two major governance scandals.

She is implicated in negligence in the Usindiso shelter fire in August 2023, in which 76 people were killed.

A second case is Botes’ implication by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for spending R18.6-million on dodgy companies in Covid-19 procurement criminality.

These providers failed to do the work on city property, and the spending happened even when most city staffers were working from home. (See Mark Heywood’s report here.)

“The City wishes to confirm that Ms Helen Botes is not an employee of the City of Johannesburg or the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC). Consequently, the City is not in a position to comment on matters about Ms Botes,” said the metro government in a statement.

Daily Maverick had asked for comment on the Outa court case.

“It is important to recognise that the City of Johannesburg is committed to transparency and accountability in all its dealings and will continue to cooperate fully with any investigations or inquiries related to this matter,” the statement added.

Read more: Court showdown: Outa seeks to declare Joburg’s Botes delinquent director

For over a decade, Botes was CEO of the JPC, which oversees 29,001 properties worth R10-billion. She’s also influential in the Johannesburg ANC regional structures. She was appointed acting chief operating officer of Johannesburg in January in unprocedural circumstances, before Tshepo Makola returned to the position.

The Khampepe Commission into the Usindiso fire found that:

• The board of directors of the JPC must consider taking appropriate action against Botes for the total disregard of managing the Usindiso building despite knowledge of the disastrous state since at least 2019.
• Botes gave evidence and answered questions by the evidence leader of the commission and, in cross-examination, made concessions indicating awareness of the following relevant facts spanning from at least 2015 until the fire occurred:
  • Since at least 2015, Usindiso Ministries had vacated the building;
  • The building was not zoned for residential purposes;
  • The building had been hijacked, remained occupied illegally and was overcrowded;
  • Crime was rife in the building, and the building was not habitable;
  • The building had illegal electricity connections and water consumption;
  • The building lacked firefighting equipment and installations; and
  • The JPC had failed to maintain the property since 2003.
• The evidence of the former residents indicated, without any shadow of a doubt, that the Usindiso building was dangerous or showed signs of becoming dangerous to life or property. In contrast, the evidence presented by Botes elsewhere demonstrated that the JPC and, by extension, the City of Johannesburg were aware that the Usindiso building was dangerous or showed signs of becoming hazardous to life or property, yet no steps appeared to have been taken to uphold applicable laws to ensure public safety. DM