Author: Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe

The George Municipal Council approved a revised Policy On House Shops And Other Residential-Based Retail Concerns in November 2021. The revised policy establishes sustainable land use management guidelines to allow the operation of house shops or similar micro-enterprises from residential properties, with specific focus given to low-income residential neighbourhoods such as townships, subsidy housing areas, and informal settlement areas – to ensure their short-term economic sustainability while also facilitating the long-term spatial strategy for these neighbourhoods.

The residential business survey conducted by the George Municipality’s Town Planning Department in March 2022 revealed that of the 308 house shops recorded in the George Municipal area, including Blanco. Pacaltsdorp, Thembalethu, Wilderness, Haarlem, and Uniondale, only five (5) are legal in terms of the Town Planning law. This has therefore necessitated a vigorous drive on rectification of illegal house shops in the greater George area.

As part of the rectification process, all owners and/or operators of illegal house shops or 3^rd party retail concerns, including those who have previously been served a notice, will now be granted an amnesty period of 3 months to rectify their operation and avoid the payment of any penalties or fines.

“The amnesty will only be granted if the operator can present proof of the shop’s existence prior to the implementation of the new zoning scheme on 1 September 2017 and accepts the General Conditions of Approval for house shops. The granting of amnesty shall not be construed as an indicator of support for their illegal businesses, or that their application will be approved,” said, Clinton Petersen, the Senior Manager in the George Municipality’s Town Planning Department.”

Petersen confirmed that the Municipality has already commenced the process of issuing notices directly to all unauthorised house shops in George. “The notice that we have issued is a ‘First Notice’, which basically informs and warns the property owner and the house shop operator that they have utilised the land outside the zoning scheme prescripts and without the approval of the municipality. The notice furthermore advises that they must rectify the contraventions (the illegal activity and/or building works) within 30 days of the date of notice being served. The notice will also request the owner/operator to contact and visit the Town Planning department to discuss options in rectifying the contravention,” Petersen said.

If the property owner and/or house shop operator does not adhere to the municipality’s ‘first notice’, the municipality will issue a second notice allowing the owner and/or operator a further 14 days to address the contravention. Should the owner and/or operator adhere to the above-mentioned notices, he/she will be assisted by the Planning department and advised on the requirements of submitting the necessary land use applications. They will also be advised that the submission of such an application does not give them the authority to continue operating the illegal shop and further, that submission of the application does not guarantee that their application will be successful.

Petersen says that the owner and/or operator will then be provided one (1) month to submit the required land use application. “Should the second notice not be adhered to, or the land use application is not be submitted, the matter will be handed over to the Department of Legal Services and Compliance for the instituting of further legal action. The Legal Department will issue a final compliance notice allowing the owner and/or operator a final opportunity (14 days) to address the contravention, failing which, said Department will be instructed to either lay a criminal charge with the SAPS or appoint an attorney to institute civil proceedings against the owner and/or operator,” he added.

The municipality may deviate from the above procedures and institute legal action if the activity and/or structure pose an imminent danger to life or property, or if illicit activities are suspected to be taking place on the property and pose a threat to the health and wellbeing of the community concerned.

The owners can contact the official who issued the notice on the phone number, or the email address provided thereon. They can also visit the offices on the 5th floor, municipal building, 71 York Street. For enquiries, the public can contact our office on Tel: 044 801 9477. They also send an email to town.planning.complaints@george.gov.za to register a service request. There will be a town planner on duty each day to assist with these queries.

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Vandalism of paving and manhole covers from the roads in Erf 325 East and Metro Grounds Developments areas, that have been serviced for future housing development is raising a huge concern for the Municipality, as it deprives citizens of deserving services.

“The vandalism of the road which is caused by members of the public is self-defeating because the infrastructure that has been built in this future residential area is meant for the development of the community. It also takes away from the public funds. Each destruction robs the community of what they deserve, and it hinders good quality service delivery. The Municipality has also noted that the manhole covers on the Metro grounds are also being vandalised, and this poses a danger to small children and animals,” said Lionel Daniels, acting director for Civil Engineering Services in the George Municipality.

“We plead to the community to assist by reporting these incidents. We implore the public to help us, as it appears that people continue to plunder Municipal property in many parts of the Municipal area. Assessments of the extent of the damages on the road and missing manhole covers is ongoing and it is unfortunate that funding earmarked for new infrastructure, now needs to be allocated for these repairs,” Daniels added.

Vandalism is a crime and ultimately costs ratepayers, money. Vandalism also results in communities being deprived of services. The public is requested to please report people tampering, painting, breaking, or stealing municipal property with the SAPS and George Municipality Law Enforcement (044 801 6350 or 044 801 6300 after hours) as soon as you see it happening. If you can take pictures of the culprits in the act without endangering yourself, it will help a lot. Thank you in advance for helping us protect our infrastructure.

Reward

George Municipality offers a R2500 reward for information that leads to the successful conviction of vandalism in a court of law. The witness will have to go on record to the authorities, giving his/her name and contact details to testify, but his/her identity will be protected. Report to 0860 044 044 to be eligible for the reward.

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The George Municipality wishes to thank the public for a successful open day for hazardous waste held on 29 July 2022 between 08:00 and 15:00 at the Outeniqua Stadium Parking area, on Augusta Street.

A word of gratitude goes to the 150 people who came to turn in hazardous waste as the open day was a resounding success.

The following wase was collected:

• 315 litres of medical waste
• 200 fluorescent tubes / globes
• 10kg of household batteries
• 2 tons of e-waste and
• 1 ton of paint

The next open day will take place on 28 October 2022, the following items are acceptable as hazardous waste:

• Motor oil, oil filters, brake fluid
• Used antifreeze
• Paint, paint thinner, turpentine
• Pesticides or herbicides
• Household batteries
• CRT’s old TVs, miscellaneous electronics, Tyres, Fluorescent tubes, and Globes
• Household medical waste (needles and old medicine and tablets)

The following items are not acceptable as hazardous waste:  

• Explosives – Ammunition
• Radioactive Materials
• Controlled Substances

Remember to bring the items you wish to dispose of in a strong box preferably in their original, labelled containers and do not mix products. For further enquiries please contact the George Municipality’s environmental services on 044 802 2900.

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The George Municipality’s Civil Engineering Department successfully and meticulously executed a five-day emergency repair work into the Eden Sewage Pump Station.

The executive mayor of George, Alderman Leon van Wyk commended the team for their success. “I would like to congratulate the team for painstakingly repairing the pump station. The pump station was experiencing frequent and costly breakdowns, and this threatened the integrity of the sewage system it serves. We can safely say that the emergency repair work was completed excellently and I’m happy to confirm that the pumps are up and running again.”

According to Deon de Jager, Deputy Director for water and sanitation in the George Municipality, one of the isolating valves on the delivery manifold of the sewer pump station failed, therefore the Municipality had to cut in a new isolating valve on the sewer rising main outside the pump station to isolate the effluent inside the sewer rising main to enable us to replace the isolating valve on the pump station delivery manifold.

“The emergency work was completed from Saturday 23 July to the morning of 28 July at 5h30, with the most important part taking place on Wednesday night 27 July, from 08h00 to the morning of 28 July 2022 at 05h30,” de Jager said.

“All work was completed, but the emergency has been minimised with two duty pumps available to pump sewage from the Eden Pump Station.”

The work was completed with no incidents, and the raising-main (pump-line) is operational with 2 x pumps available to pump into the rising main that can now be isolated for emergency and maintenance purposes.

Stakeholders involved include George Municipality which managed the sewage sumps with honey-suckers and Fire Department provided lighting. The replacement of valves inside the pump station was done by Coastal Armatures, meanwhile, Hidro -Tech / Rudcor – Manufacturing specialists assisted with cutting in a T-Piece and isolating valve on the rising main and constructing emergency overflow. IX Engineers and Sharples Environmental assisted the Municipality with the facilitation of the emergency works.  Other stakeholders assisting the Municipality on the legal and compliance side included the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP) and Breede Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA).

Mayor van Wyk also thanked residents of the affected areas. “I would also like to thank the residents of Eden, Denver Park and Loerie Park for heeding our call to use water sparingly and limit water discharge into the sewer network.”

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Construction of two new traffic circles in York Street starting shortly will impact road users, including the GO GEORGE bus service.

Work on the planned circles on the section of road between the Hope Street circle and the George Link bus depot, near Mount View Resort, will start on the 5^th of August if all goes according to plan, and will last until at least the end of the year. The circles are required to accommodate the additional traffic which is expected to be generated by proposed developments in the area and are funded by private stakeholders.

According to Morné Lakay, acting GO GEORGE Manager, no rerouting of buses is being planned. “Since the project will be executed with one lane open at all times, we will be able to keep our Pacaltsdorp buses on route, but passengers will unfortunately have to prepare for delays, especially during peak times,” he said. “For this reason, we encourage passengers to take an earlier bus than usual, to still reach work and school on time. We apologise for the inconvenience but trust that everybody will find a way to plan around the delays which are out of our control.”

Affected bus stops

The two Skatelab bus stops close to the George Link bus depot will be closed during the construction period, with passengers normally using these stops being requested to use their closest alternative stop in the area. Stop Hope 112 between the Mount View entrance and the Hope Street circle will temporarily be moved to the bridge side of the circle for passengers’ convenience.

Passengers who need assistance with planning their trips are welcome to phone the GO GEORGE Call Centre on 0800 044 044 or send an email to info@gogeorge.org.za.