 In
a week which saw Capetonians reeling under announcements regarding increased
electricity and petrol prices, the local property industry was also hit
by the SA Reserve Bank’s refusal to lower interest rates further –
as had been requested by most of the leading figures in the industry –
and indications from Tito Mboweni that we may have seen the last interest
rate drop for some time.
Then, on top of all this, the Cape Town City Council decided to make
Cape estate agents’ lives still more difficult by almost tripling
the fee for erecting their signboards.
“The fee,” says Ivan Neethling, Chairman of the Western Cape
Institute of Estate Agents, “has been raised from R560 to almost
R1 400. This has been done without any consultation with agents and without
granting the Institute a chance to explain just how difficult this makes
business for the smaller operators. The Council has been alarmingly inflexible
on this matter, despite many requests to engage with us.”
In the current economic conditions, said Neethling, no industry is as
hard hit as the property sector, which has experienced “massive attrition”
in its ranks. (The number of registered estate agents in SA has in fact
dropped from over 90 000 to close on 30 000 – and is still going
down.)
“The survival of estate agents, particularly those in the less affluent
areas, who are struggling to cope under conditions in which bank credit
has been cut by 65% as a result of the NC Act, depends on their being
able to afford to put up signboards. They simply do not have the funds
to advertise in the media at today’s prices – and R1 400 will
be beyond the means of most agents. ”
Neethling added that in many other SA municipalities the erection of
outdoor signage is in fact under the control of the Institute of Estate
Agents who ensure that their members adhere closely to good governance
policies regarding the frequency, the times and the positions of signboards.
“Here in Cape Town we in the Institute have offered the Council
this service,” said Neethling, “but all suggestions that we
could work together to find satisfactory solutions have been ignored.
Nevertheless, we hope still to get together with the Council, who in so
many other ways have shown a very real sympathy for the plight of those
hard hit by today’s recession.”
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Newsletter:
3 February 2012 to 10 February 2012 - Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa
