Government will table bill by April
Cautious optimism has followed government's announcement that the new Rent Bill will be tabled next month after amendments.
The activist movement Affirmative Repositioning (AR) has commended government's commitment to finalise the amendments to the Rent Bill later this month and to table the bill in April.
“Although it's too early to celebrate it is a worthy development,” AR spokesperson George Kambala wrote in a press release this week.
The AR has been advocating for the appointment of a rent control board since mid-2015 and this week accused government of “zigzagging” on the issue, allegedly because of pressure from “property moguls and politicians in the property industry”.
Although government made several public commitments in 2015 and 2016 to establish the rent control board, the announcement in February that the board appointments would not take place until amendments to the current rent ordinance were finalised, surprised, and angered, many.
Kambala described the U-turn in February as a “dramatic turn of events”. The announcement was made after the AR re-ignited their push for the implementation of the rent board in January. A letter demanding the establishment of the board and a threat of legal action was made in January.
Last week, following the announcement of the postponement by government to appoint a rent board, the AR demanded that government withdraw their “illegal stance” or face legal action. The prescribed deadline was 4 March.
In response, the Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME issued a press release late last week, publicly committing to finalise and release a draft of the amended rent bill by 20 March and to table the rent bill in April.
Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko explained that the resolution to pause the appointment of a rent board was made in lieu of government's opinion that the current Rent Ordinance of 1977 would be impractical to implement in its current form.
Ngatjizeko explained that the current penalties included in the 1977 ordinance “are too little … and therefore would not deter any lessor from contravening the Rent Ordinance, 1977. It will defeat the purpose that the government aims to achieve.”
The minister said that government has always been committed to introduce measures to protect lessees against “exploitation” of lessors.
He said government is aware of the current state of affairs range “from the charging of exorbitant rentals, to the eviction of lessees at the whim of lessors while disregarding the interests and rights” of tenants. Moreover there are currently few options for tenants to address complaints against landlords.
Ngatjizeko stated that one of the issues to be addressed through the amendments to the current law is the prescribed 7.5% of the value of a mortgage as a rental price.
He described this as “unfair on the part of the lessor” and government is committed to explore an alternative option that would replace it with a “fair value of rental”.
The AR has welcomed the announcement.
“It is a good prospective victory for the militant youth of AR who kept soldiering on since 2015 despite the challenges, insults, intimidation, harassment and all the negative things done and directed to all activists.”
Nevertheless, based on past experience, the movement said that they will continue to keep a close eye on the issue to ensure that government sticks to “their own commitments”.
JANA-MARI SMITH
“Although it's too early to celebrate it is a worthy development,” AR spokesperson George Kambala wrote in a press release this week.
The AR has been advocating for the appointment of a rent control board since mid-2015 and this week accused government of “zigzagging” on the issue, allegedly because of pressure from “property moguls and politicians in the property industry”.
Although government made several public commitments in 2015 and 2016 to establish the rent control board, the announcement in February that the board appointments would not take place until amendments to the current rent ordinance were finalised, surprised, and angered, many.
Kambala described the U-turn in February as a “dramatic turn of events”. The announcement was made after the AR re-ignited their push for the implementation of the rent board in January. A letter demanding the establishment of the board and a threat of legal action was made in January.
Last week, following the announcement of the postponement by government to appoint a rent board, the AR demanded that government withdraw their “illegal stance” or face legal action. The prescribed deadline was 4 March.
In response, the Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME issued a press release late last week, publicly committing to finalise and release a draft of the amended rent bill by 20 March and to table the rent bill in April.
Minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko explained that the resolution to pause the appointment of a rent board was made in lieu of government's opinion that the current Rent Ordinance of 1977 would be impractical to implement in its current form.
Ngatjizeko explained that the current penalties included in the 1977 ordinance “are too little … and therefore would not deter any lessor from contravening the Rent Ordinance, 1977. It will defeat the purpose that the government aims to achieve.”
The minister said that government has always been committed to introduce measures to protect lessees against “exploitation” of lessors.
He said government is aware of the current state of affairs range “from the charging of exorbitant rentals, to the eviction of lessees at the whim of lessors while disregarding the interests and rights” of tenants. Moreover there are currently few options for tenants to address complaints against landlords.
Ngatjizeko stated that one of the issues to be addressed through the amendments to the current law is the prescribed 7.5% of the value of a mortgage as a rental price.
He described this as “unfair on the part of the lessor” and government is committed to explore an alternative option that would replace it with a “fair value of rental”.
The AR has welcomed the announcement.
“It is a good prospective victory for the militant youth of AR who kept soldiering on since 2015 despite the challenges, insults, intimidation, harassment and all the negative things done and directed to all activists.”
Nevertheless, based on past experience, the movement said that they will continue to keep a close eye on the issue to ensure that government sticks to “their own commitments”.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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