Johannesburg’s land planning system down for weeks, call centre down too

The City of Johannesburg’s land information system (LIS) has gone down, which constrains city development and means it cannot grow. The construction, planning and built environment sectors are pulling their hair out.

“What is happening in COJ (City of Johannesburg). Rezoning of land or simple ‘in-principle support’ for rezoning is months behind. Previously, these would take two to three weeks. They don’t give a damn about the implications. (This means) lost land sales, increased rates and taxes, (the under) development of vacant land, job creation and much more.

“I get calls daily from architects, builders, plumbers, electricians and painters looking for work. I can’t help but think COJ is directly responsible for these people not being able to buy food today. It is a disgrace,” said a Business Maverick reader.

“Four weeks ago, the system was switched off,” said Intaprop director Carollyn Mitchell. She said the LIS had replaced a manual system and improved planning in the city. She said everything was lodged through the LIS: “Rezoning. Consent uses. Site development and building plan applications. Fire clearance.”

Banks release financing only when building plans or other applications have been lodged and approved, and without a working system, there are logjams in a city that needs to grow.

“Apparently, yesterday (Monday, 13 October), the whole department was sent home. It’s absolutely unbelievable that the largest economic hub in Africa does not have a functioning council.”

Johannesburg’s planning heritage (all its maps and plans, zoning and other assets) is in the abandoned Metro Centre, parts of which are occupied by homeless people and all of which has been condemned as a fire risk. Some planning staff have been moved to Newtown. The Sunday Times reported that officials were requesting bribes to find plans (Sunday Times is paywalled).

“If the city doesn’t grow, there won’t be enough housing,” said Mitchell. She said new industries such as the green energy sector were keen on Johannesburg. Old office stock could be repurposed as housing or small businesses in a city where there was high demand, she said.

City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane told Daily Maverick: “The support and maintenance contract with IBM expired and the plan is to move to a new Microsoft-based system.

“There is an interim measure being put in place, which involves using the CPMS [Construction Permitting Management System] without LIS. We are currently running tests both on the back end and the front end now, using a sample of a few architects for the front end. The system should be up and running by Friday.”

Your call won’t be answered

On Tuesday, 14 October, the city’s call centre also went down, meaning that the city of an estimated six million people and the urban centre that is still its financial heartbeat has no way of contacting the people who run it. 

“The DA has been made aware that the city’s IT systems are currently down due to outstanding payments to the IT service provider, compounded by the ongoing instability within the current coalition of the ANC-EFF-PA. This situation is already causing significant challenges for residents, who are struggling to log queries and access essential services,” said caucus leader Belinda Echeozonjoku. 

The city suffers both an energy and water crisis, and logging calls is the only way to ensure these are fixed. (Estelle Ellis has reported that the Nelson Mandela Bay metro has not had phone lines for a month because it didn’t pay its bills.)

“These essential systems are the nerve centre of the city and their non-functionality is symptomatic of the dysfunction in the administration of the city. We urge the city to restore these services immediately, but also to account for the downtime and any associated cost with having these systems restored,” said Yunus Chamda of the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance.

“We also would like some transparency on the existing contracts for these services if they are outsourced,” said Chamda.

Asked when both systems would be back up, council spokesperson Virgil James said, “I cannot say when. IT (information technology) didn’t give us anything yesterday in our meeting.” DM