“Red Notices”

The “Red Notice” page has been included to bring attention to cases where the National Heritage or Town Planning Regulations are either being ignored or contravened. This includes Individual Property Owners, the Oudtshoorn Municipality as well as situations of non-response by Heritage Western Cape.

Items will only be included on this page following extensive follow-up with the relevant/person body by De Rust Heritage but without any clear response being received to satisfactorily resolve the issue in question.

Red Notice #2

Some Areas of Non-compliance

Showing action/inaction - Updated June, 2019

Copy of Original List of De Rust Erven Requiring Urgent Attention - Illegal Building Activities and/or Use on Heritage Sites sent to the Oudtshoorn Municipality on 22 March, 2017

In order to assist the Oudtshoorn Municipality in managing and controlling illegal building and land usage activities in the Village the following list below contains a description of a number of the current worst cases in De Rust as at 7 June, 2019 (a list of other properties to follow shortly) with many still being outstanding as at 30 June, 2018.

Note: All of the erven listed below have previously been brought to the attention of the Oudtshoorn Municipality Building Control Officials on numerous occasions over the past year.

Unauthorised/Illegal Building Activities

Erf 122 Schoeman Street: Has a boundary wall comprising cement blocks and corrugated iron as well as this being well over the 1.8 meter height restriction - Backpackers. In addition, unauthorized building work with no Permit from the Joint Permit Committee has commenced.

Erf 38 – Schoeman Street: Die Herrie – Covered area on Schoeman Street constructed in late 2016. Were new plans ever approved for this property and if so why were they not presented to the Permit Committee? I refer to the original letter to the Oudtshoorn Municipality for the attention of Jaco Estes dated 14 December, 2009 from the then Chair of the De Rust Heritage Conservation Association with plans that differ considerably with what has been erected and show no regard for the Heritage aspect of the Village.

The owner has now been put on notice by the Building Inspector from the Oudtshoorn Municipality to provide as built plans for submission to the Joint Heritage Permit Committee for consideration.

Erf 606 – Hoop Street: Building work has been carried out on the existing "heritage property" without applying for a Permit from the Joint Heritage Committee and Heritage Western Cape.

Contravention of Town Planning /Illegal Usage Regulations

Erf 122 – Schoeman Street: Currently owned by the “Backpacker’s” and has a wide variety of junk in the yard – old fridges, cars, as well as part of an old bakkie outside on the pavement adjoining the N12.

Erf 123 – Corner Schoeman Street/Third Avenue: The “Backpacker’s” use this erven as a place to store all types of old farming material and other junk.

Erf 40 – Nuwe Straat: Also being used as storage by the owner for various pieces of construction equipment for the Willomore road.

Erf 256 - Burger Street: This stand is owned by the Oudtshoorn Municipality and a razor wire fence has been erected on the street boundary which is illegal. No plans have been submitted for this fence and in addition it should be palisade or similar to secure the erf which is used to store municipal vehicles.

Lack of Environmental Compliance

The rehabilitation of the De Rust Koppie is still a major outstanding issue in terms of the legal notice served on the Oudtshoorn Municipality by Cape Nature over a year ago. This notice applies to the rehabilitation of the site of the illegal transfer station established by the Oudtshoorn Municipality on the De Rust Koppie. This is a site of special significance in terms of the number and unique types of plant species found there (see the Environmental page on the website for additional detail www.derustheritage.org.za ).

In addition to the above the Spatial Development Framework document produced by the Oudtshoorn Municipality in 2015 has clearly demarcated the De Rust Koppie as a proposed Nature Reserve - this needs urgent action by both the Municipality and Cape Nature.

General Note

Since the start of 2019 there has been a significant improvement in enforcement efforts from the Oudtshoorn Municipality in resolving many of the above issues by appointing a dedicated Building Control Official for De Rust. However, there is still an apparent reluctance on behalf of the Municipality in either using fines or prosecuting offenders through the existing legal channels in terms of both the Municipal By-Laws and the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999.

Red Notice #2: Updated June, 2019

THIS PAGE CAN BE DOWNLOADED AS A PDF FILE HERE

Red Notice #1

Areas of Non-Compliance – Properties & Other Areas

OUDTSHOORN MUNICIPALITY

Complete Rehabilitation of Refuse Transfer Station Site on the Koppie: This case was originally raised by Cape Nature as a result of representations by a number of residents following unsuccessful representations to the Municipality. The Refuse Transfer Station was originally established illegally by the Municipality on the De Rust Koppie.

Cape Nature then threatened to take the Municipality to court and as a direct result the fencing surrounding the site was removed. However, the clean-up and rehabilitation process has still not been fully completed. The total rehabilitation of the site requires the removal of all the fly rubbish material in the surrounding area on the De Rust Koppie by the Oudtshoorn Municipality.

INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY OWNERS

Erf 32, Schoeman Street, De Rust: This property is a classic old Heritage Cottage which is in a serious state of disrepair and in the process of falling down. In addition, the owner has Municipal debts extending over many years amounting to a major amount of arrears without resolution. In addition, no action has been taken by the responsible Municipal Officials to resolve the situation either through a Court Order or similar action in order to fully rehabilitate the property.

Erf 123, Schoeman Street, De Rust: This is a residential stand which is currently being used as a dumping ground for a variety of items including old farming equipment. This issue has also been notified many times to the Oudtshoorn Municipality without any action being taken by the responsible Municipal Officials in Town Planning/Building Control.

Erf 102, Le Roux Street, De Rust: A contractor is using this residential site to store a variety of equipment which is connected to the road maintenance activities of the Meiringspoort facilities. The issue has been raised with the Municipality on numerous occasions without any action having been taken against the offending owner who has the above company renting this property.

Note: A number of other properties have been identified for listing under the “Red Notice” where numerous representations have been made to the Oudtshoorn Municipality for remedial action without any response.

OTHER ACTIVITIES - Contrary to the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999

Illegal Construction/Renovation: Owners carrying out either illegal building work or renovation without the requisite permissions being granted by Heritage Western Cape and/or the Oudtshoorn Municipality are also to be identified as part of the “Red Notice” campaign.

Please check the requisite web page on this site for the “Village Building Guidelines” or contact De Rust Heritage for the necessary assistance/guidance. It is important to note that “all alterations and renovations of buildings older than 60 years old” must by law be made initially to De Rust Heritage as part of Heritage Oudtshoorn

Important Note: Contravention of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999 is a Criminal Offence punishable by Law.

Notice Number 1 dated 25 May, 2018

THIS PAGE CAN BE DOWNLOADED AS A PDF FILE HERE