Distressed? SA's banks have provided over R45.5bn in Covid-19 relief. These are your options
South African banks have provided a cumulative R45.56 billion – in financial relief and loan guarantees – to South African businesses and individuals who are financially distressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown, up to August 1, 2020.
This is according to the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), as more than 3-million jobs have been lost since the start of lockdown, adding to the country's already dire unemployment rate of 30.1% in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
And the worst is not over yet. Many more South Africans are expected to face financial stress as the economy labours to get back on track.
BASA says that of the 84% of individuals and businesses requested payment breaks since March 2020, over 95% received assistance. 10% were rejected as they did not meet the requirements. Deep cuts in interest rates by the SARB also continue to provide further relief to individuals and businesses.
More
City of Cape Town launches online portal to help building professionals avoid delayed applications
Professionals working in the building industry can now subscribe to a new resource launched by the City of Cape Town to help provide clarity and guidance on the requirements for submitting building plans to the City.
The City’s Development Management Department who is responsible for regulating development in Cape Town created the online portal Build It Right, which will include the latest trends and regular newsletters - free of charge.
Addresses common reasons for delays
‘We have done an analysis of the building plans that were submitted to the City in recent months to determine what type of information should be available on the resource portal. By taking a closer look, we have identified that some submissions were delayed either because vital information had been omitted, or because the application did not comply with the requirements of the National Building Regulations and Standards Act," says Alderman Marian Nieuwoudt, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment.
More
4 steps to 'urgently address' deeds office backlogs
The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (ALRRD) Ms Thoko Didiza, MP has met with the Chief Registrar of Deeds and all provincial registrars to put a concrete plan in place to address backlog challenges in all Deeds offices.
The ALRRD Minister’s meeting follows numerous complaints from various stakeholders regarding backlogs and constant closure of deeds offices. Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier called on Didiza to "urgently intervene in the repeated and at times unnecessary closure of the Cape Town Deeds Office".
Maynier cited the “considerable negative impact” this was having on the property and real estate industry in the Western Cape and believed that the deeds office was not implementing the necessary Covid-19 health and safety measures in line with either the National Department of Health or the Department of Employment and Labour.
More
No inspection, but landlord says I owe damages. What are my rights?
There was never any inspection done when I moved in and the exit inspection was also done after I had left. Am I liable to pay damages that were already there when I moved in?
A Property24 reader asks: I rented a house from the 1st of February 2019 and the lease was for a year and was signed through agents. By September I started having financial problems and indicated to the agents that I wanted to terminate my lease due to financial difficulties. The agents then communicated this to the landlord as the lease hadn’t expired yet and mid-October the landlord contacted me and I advised that I would be moving out at the end of November 2019 which was accepted and agreed by him. Now on the 10th December after having moved out on the 30th November the agents sent a long list of damages I am supposed to have made on the property. There was never any inspection done when I moved in and the exit inspection was also done after I had left, no one came to even collect the keys from me. Am I liable to pay damages that were already there when I moved in? There was no official inspections so I cannot prove that the damages were already there, nor can the agents or landlord prove that the damages were caused by me? What do I do now?
More
Leave a comment: