The Department of Development Planning has been granted permission by the national Department of Labour and Employment to assess the Metro Link in Johannesburg to retrieve refused building plan applications which have been inaccessible since November 2020.
This follows a recommendation made by the national department to immediately cease all operations from the Metro Link when an investigation deemed the building unsuitable for working conditions.
The Department says that access to these refused building plan applications has been priority to ensure that services continue to be delivered to members of the industry and public despite the building being closed.
“The Department has received numerous calls and emails from industry professionals who have been patiently waiting to make corrections on their submitted building plans and have appealed to the national department to retrieve the applications” commented Cllr Thapelo Amad, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Development Planning.
“The retrieval of the submitted applications was critical for the progression of those building plans in the assessment process, as many industry professionals and their clients had been left in the lurch. The Government of Local Unity has prioritised sustainable service delivery and economic development, amongst others, and we would be doing our City and its residents a great injustice if we did not address all these issues with the urgency that they deserve,” he added.
MMC Amad highlighted that although the Department is operating at 20% staff compliment, because of the Covid-19 Level 3 regulations, the demand to deliver its services remains at 100%.
“We understand that the current situation of the Metro Link closing temporarily has been debilitating for the industry and that its impact has far reaching consequences to the City’s economy”.
“However, the Department has had to exercise caution at all times and ensure that it follows, not only Covid-19 regulations, but labour and building regulations as well.”
Due to identified challenges, the Building Development Management directorate has initiated measures that will be introduced to address the backlog of submitted building plan applications, through the following process:
- Clients must provide a list of plan(s) required to be uplifted from the Metro Link via email to Emmanuelmu@joburg.org.za or MulaloN@joburg.org.za; or call on 011 407 6058 or 6061. As a last alternative, the client may call Emmanuel Mutele on 081 374 3979, who will assist in facilitating the request.
- The client may also call-in person on the 6th floor of the Metro Centre for requesting the plans. They will be able to make an appointment with the relevant plans’ examiner, should it be necessary, to obtain assistance in dealing with specific items of refusal.
- Please note that requested plans will not be available immediately, but instead, after two days to allow officials time to search for it accordingly.
- Clients must provide their contact details to be contacted once their building plan(s) are ready for collection, to attend to the reasons for refusal, or in the unlikely event of us experiencing problems in locating the plan – in which case, the customer will be notified if finding the plan will take longer than the stipulated two days to find.
An update on the maintenance work to be carried out at the Metro Link building will be given soon.
