INDUSTRY FOCUS
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the future
Residential Estates – Mini Municipalities?
Much has been written on the issue of rates being imposed on residential estates where municipalities
have simply stopped providing services, fixing roads even where they belong to the municipality,
replacing street lights, upgrading signage, removing refuse and so on.
Local authorities continue to charge rates (set higher for residential estates than if the homes
were in a suburb) even when they are not able to provide the services for which these rates
were paid. In many instances the need to assure residents of an uninterrupted supply of goodquality water and electricity has forced communities to install their own distribution systems from
boreholes or storage tanks and bulk power sources.
Local government has failed to concede that because of this, each municipality should negotiate
with these communities about the rates that continue to be charged.
In effect, every organised residential community is a mini municipality with parks, roads, recreation
centres, community centres, waste disposal areas, dams, wetlands and, in some cases, medical
clinic facilities. There are numerous new developments and some existing schemes that are moving
“off the grid” completely. It is unlikely that local government will ever accept or acknowledge that
these communities are mini municipalities in their own right. There is new legislation being drafted
that will, by default, place more responsibilities on estate management to perform the functions
of a local municipality. The storage of emergency water is a case in point.
It is interesting to compare the terminology used by local municipalities and homeowners’
associations.
Mayor
Chairperson
Executive council
Board
Portfolio committees
Subcommittees
City manager
Estate manager
Constituencies
Members
By-laws
Rules
Elections
Annual general meetings
Rates
Levies
As an industry we should continue to work towards self-sustainability and prepare ourselves for
legislation that could affect our ability to continue offering residents high levels of service.
Please email [email protected] for more examples.