BUFFALO City Metro wants to pay R16.5-million for land near Ncera to secure a squatter settlement – two years after the current owner bought it for a modest R130000.
The metro has proposed to pay Moshe Sohaba a hugely inflated valuation for his 83-hectare farm because squatters moved onto the land allegedly while he was acquiring it.
BIRD’S-EYE VIEW: The aerial map shows the farm (within the yellow border) which BCM wants to buy for R16.5m from Moshe Sohaba
But the proposed deal has raised concerns that it may be the latest example of ratepayers’ money going astray. Opposition councillors say the enormous price tag is 127 times what Sohaba paid for it.
And they claim he must have known at the time he made the offer there were many families on the property – and that BCM planned to buy it.
Even BCM ward councillor Batini Booi, who has been fighting for residents of the Khayalitsha village on the farm, said he was “mindful that the municipality must not be ripped off”.
MOSHE SOHABA
Sohaba bought the land ostensibly for farming and claims during the three years he waited for transfer to pass – it eventually went through the deeds office in May 2012 – squatters moved in.
Sohaba has been putting the metro under pressure to buy the land. In a letter dated January 9 this year, he threatened to evict the squatters if the matter was not resolved by the end of the month.
Sohaba says the metro undertook to do a feasibility study as a basis for BCM to consider purchasing his property to secure tenure for the squatters.
“Seemingly the municipality is willing to talk to no end without taking responsibility for the soaring number of invaders (on) my property.”
The land, portion three of farm 1952 King William’s Town, is at the intersection of the R346 and R347 roads near Ncera village. Sohaba bought the farm from a deceased estate for R130000, well below its valuation of R290000 done as part of the general municipal valuation which applies to all properties.
An internal valuation done for the metro by Andile Mapasa and Mziwethu Booi (no relation to the ward councillor) dated December 14 2012 says based on comparable sales, a fair price for the farm would be R16m².
The valuators then extrapolated the value to R19.64m² and settled the value at R16.5-million for all 83 hectares. The signed report was being circulated among municipal officials a day before the date of signature.
Mapasa, a registered valuator, refused to discuss his work with BCM yesterday. The Daily Dispatch reported in October last year Mapasa had been suspended in connection with alleged tender irregularities.
Booi, a candidate valuator at the time, is no longer registered with the statutory Council for the Property Valuers Profession.
WORRIED: Residents of the farm are worried about the sale of the land
Picture: MARK ANDREWS
The metro report to last week’s council meeting says officials have been unable to procure an independent valuation as none of those on the BCM database responded to an invitation to provide one.
Councillor Booi says every family on the farm has been documented and the total number is 200 families. This is confirmed by residents on the farm and metro reports.
A Dispatch investigation found families scattered across the farm inhabiting plots of about 1500m² each and bigger.
Some family members, speaking through a committee, claimed to have been occupiers since 2000, while others lay claim to occupation since 2007. The homes include shacks, mud rondavels and brick houses.
Booi said the ward committee negotiated with Eskom for electricity to be provided to various farms in the area as part of the settling of the community long before Sohaba took ownership.
City manager Andile Fani said a feasibility study needed to be done to determine the development potential of the land, adding that funds were available to pay for the property.
A valuation report would be submitted to the next council meeting.
Booi says he spoke to the previous owner, Lali, about selling the land to the municipality, but she disappeared for some time, until he heard Sohaba was the new owner.
He said councillors had asked mayor Zukiswa Ncitha and Fani to negotiate a lower price.
Democratic Alliance councillor Lance Weyer alleges Sohaba knew at the time he bought the property it was the subject of a land invasion by about 200 families.
He said BCM had issued a purchase requisition for an independent valuation two months after the property was registered in his name and Sohaba offered the property to the metro in order to avoid evicting the squatters, said Weyer.
He said the DA believed Sohaba purchased the property with the intention to sell it to BCM for many times its value. — rayh@-dispatch.co.za
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