City of Joburg must urgently explain glaring decrease in Gupta Saxonwold Compound valuations

Reports in the weekend Independent Newspapers have revealed that the rateable values of the six Gupta family properties in Saxonwold have plummeted drastically to bargain basement prices (see here and earlier City Press report here).

Saxonwold remains a highly sought after suburb in Johannesburg and the values recorded in property sales reflect this.

In 2007, at the time of the city's first General Valuation roll under new legislation, the Gupta properties were valued at R47.6 million. Now they are valued at R30.1 million, a decrease of 36.78%, according to the city's most recent valuations roll in 2013.

No evidence at this stage is available to suggest that the valuation of these properties was arrived at as a result of improper interference; however, the magnitude of the difference in values raises serious questions for the City's Valuations Department. 

According to the article in the Independent newspapers, the value of the properties was R52 million in 2011. On the other hand a watchdog body which prefers to remain unidentified at this point suggests that the values could be as high as R95 million [see attached PDF]. It may well be that both figures are guesswork, but in the interests of truth, the City needs to answer some critical questions to explain the glaring differences between the 2007 and 2013 values.

Before a new General Valuation Roll is published, values should be subject to a rigorous process of double-checking and evaluation. Mistakes, if any, can be rectified. Legislation, recognising that valuation is an inexact science, permits the City itself to object to an incorrect valuation.

The city of Johannesburg urgently needs to address the following:

1.) The city must immediately provide certainty regarding whether the glaring drop in rate valuations on the Gupta properties are correct or incorrect

2.) If the valuations are incorrect, the city must explain whether it has submitted an objection to assign correct values to these properties in terms of the Municipal Property Rates Act

3.) If the City has not submitted objections, it is still not the end of the road. The City has the legal power to issue Supplementary Valuations in order to correct mistakes in a General Valuation Roll. Therefore the city must clarify whether it will assign supplementary values to the properties.

Residents of the City of Johannesburg deserve to know the truth in this matter. They should not be made to feel that they are subsidizing a politically-connected family through unfair rate valuations. Nobody should be given special treatment in this regard and if this is the case, the City needs to be held accountable for its actions.

Statement issued by John Mendelsohn, DA Spokesperson on Rates and Valuations, City of Johannesburg, May 20 2013

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter