Johannesburg city officials are soliciting bribes of as much as R2,000 from desperate residents seeking to access their building plans, according to several whistleblowers who spoke to the Sunday Times.
The city is the custodian of a historical blueprint archive of more than 1-million documents consisting of building plans, property drawings, zoning files and servitude diagrams — all of which have lain neglected in a dark basement of the Metro Centre in Braamfontein since it closed down in 2023.
A whistleblower said that, since the closure, residents and developers have struggled to gain access to their plans for renovations or other reasons, as unscrupulous officials try to cash in.
An affected resident, who did not want to be named, recorded an interaction in which he can be heard telling an official at the development planning department that he is trying to get hold of his house plans.
“I want to do renovations, but the starting point is the original house plan, which the city has in its records,” he says in the recording. The official, who identifies himself as “Norman”, replies, “Eish, the plans are not here” — in reference to their temporary offices in Newtown.
“We moved here last month, [and] they are in the Metro Centre that side. There is no way to get them until further notice,” the official says. “Let’s exchange numbers, because sometimes our managers, they send us there. WhatsApp me.”
After this, the official allegedly told the homeowner he had “back access” to the plans, but would need payment of R2,000 to arrange for their retrieval. He later doubled down, asking for R900 for digital copies and R1,300 for printed copies.
Development planning MMC Eunice Mgcina expressed shock at the revelations of alleged corruption in her department.
“We want to act," she said. "You can’t be selling plans to our residents where there is no policy that you must sell. If there is proof that there is an exchange of money, it is wrong [and] we want to take action.
“We can’t just act on hearsay. If there is proof, we must act. The overall plan and intention is to go digital … so that it is easy for our people to access their plans.”
The criminality is jarring. This is not only illegal, but it also compromises the integrity of the historical archive if individuals are able to waltz in and out of there, removing plans with no trace.
— David Fleminger, Johannesburg Heritage Foundation chair
David Fleminger, chair of the lobby group Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, expressed outrage at the revelation, slamming officials who expected to be paid thousands instead of the regulated nominal printing fee of R40.
“I mean, it’s ridiculous," he said. "The criminality is jarring. This is not only illegal, but it also compromises the integrity of the historical archive if individuals are able to waltz in and out of there, removing plans with no trace.
“These plans go back to the birth of Joburg and are a priceless resource that is now vulnerable not only to theft, but also vandalism, fire and degradation.”
Fleminger warned that the implications of the plans archive being inaccessible were far-reaching. “This affects architects, planners, estate agents, financial institutions and property owners in the city. It is of critical concern, but the city seems disinterested in ensuring the archive is protected and accessible.
“Furthermore, if anyone wants to sell a house or building in Joburg, that person needs to submit the approved plans [which are stored in the archive]. If a seller cannot access the approved plans, they have to pay for an architect to do measured drawings of the property, which can be costly. The same applies to renovations, redevelopments, and so on.”
Fleminger said he had received widespread complaints about the inconvenience stemming from the Metro Centre’s closure.
“We aren’t quite sure how estate agents, developers, architects, researchers and the like are coping with the closure of the Metro Centre," he said.
"It seems there is someone from the city who, on request, walks up to retrieve plans, but we’ve also heard of many instances where architects and developers are hamstrung by not having proper access to the archive. And it isn’t clear how the plans for new buildings are submitted for approval and [added to] the archive.”
DA councillor Daniel Schay condemned an alleged syndicate and said the city had been turned into a “corruption hub”.
“Instead of the Joburg property company maintaining or rehabilitating the Metro Centre, it has abandoned the facility, allowing it to degrade [to the point where] it could be declared unsafe, with the city’s archives being compromised and unobtainable.
“Now hapless residents are being coerced into paying illicit fees to access these records by shifty opportunists who are exploiting this administrative monstrosity,” he said.
Development planning official Patrick Kgabe, who oversees the historical archives and plans division, said he had no knowledge of any alleged syndicate.
“We have not heard of any officials requesting monies from homeowners," he said. "What I know is that the Metro Centre is closed. We used to operate from there twice a week, and later one day a week, for three hours, to allow people to access their plans.
“But as of three weeks ago, we’ve been moved to the Newtown offices, and no-one can access the plans. I don’t know when we will be able to reopen again, or whether there are plans to move the archive.”
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