Leasing and Buying Property
Providing strategic legal guidance to safeguard municipal interests
Empowering Communities Through Property Opportunities
Persons wishing to enquire about the possibility of leasing/buying land or any other property related enquiries e.g.. encroachments, sanitary lanes, servitudes etc. must do so by lodging an enquiry on the standard enquiry form at JPC’s Client Servicing Unit (CSU). All enquiries will be assessed within fourteen (14) working days of submission by JPC’s Assessment Committee.
Frequently Asked Questions
In terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA) only properties not required for the provision of basic municipal services may be sold/leased. For this reason, JPC is required to first obtain the comments of all Council Departments and Municipal Entities (ME’s) before submitting a report to Council to obtain approval for the sale/lease of all properties.
The MFMA requires that, in principle, all properties are sold/leased by way of a competitive bidding process (public tender). In certain cases, however, the Council may approve a direct negotiation. The motivation for such deviation is stipulated in Clause 36of the Municipal Supply Chain Regulations and Chapter 5 of the Supply Chain Management Policy for Land. Common reasons for approval of deviation include disposal/sale in the public interest or cases where it is impractical or impossible to issue a bid including the sale/lease of land to adjoining owners where the subject property can’t be independently developed.
In terms of the MFMA, the Council is required to sell/lease properties at full market related prices. Approval may be given for lower than market rental/sales in cases of public benefit and the plight of the poor only.
