501 RHT cases resolved, against all odds
The North West province was recently hailed as one of the best performing provinces on the Housing Rental Tribunal Services. The accolade’ s by the National Department of Human Settlements accord during a two-day stakeholder consultation workshop on Rental Housing Tribunal in the province held in Rustenburg and Mahikeng. The purpose of this session was to empower the stakeholders on the processes and legislation of The Rental Housing Tribunal.
The North West Housing Rental Tribunal has past three years successfully resolved about 501 cases in the province. The A few of those were done through the virtual sessions. According to Ronald Mukhombo, who the manager for Stakeholder Support for Rental Housing Tribunal at the National Department, the North West Rental Housing Tribunal is the only one in the country that conducted a hearing during the hard lockdown in 2020. He said the North West Tribunal also made a mark in 2018 by obtaining a second position during the Govan Mbeki Awards despite the challenges they are faced with.
‘’We are aware of the capacity development challenges the organisation is faced with. The National Department will appoint a service provider who will conduct training for officials. We also want to encourage municipalities to employ Rental Tribunal officers so that there should be coordination that will lead to easy solutions to Tribunal matters. The establishment of Rental Housing Tribunal offices in local government means service delivery to our communities” , said Mukhombo.
Mukhombo also cautioned that the RHT is the essential service, therefore the ruling taken during the hearings are equivalent to the Magistrate Court of law, and failure to agree with the ruling is a criminal offence but parties are given a chance to appeal if needs be.
The North West Rental Housing Tribunal is the quassi-judicial body (administrative court) established in terms of the Rental Housing Act 50, of 1999 as amended and it serves a regulatory function. It promotes stability in the rental housing sector by resolving disputes that arise between tenants and landlords. The body was appointed by the MEC of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in March last year.
The Deputy Chairperson of the North West Rental Housing Tribunal, Goitsemodixmo Seleka emphasized the importance of having a Lease Agreement, together with the In-going and Out-going inspection reports between the landlord and tenant to avoid misunderstandings. He urged both parties to ensure that they follow the guidelines of the Rental Housing Tribunal as stipulated in the Rental Housing Tribunal Act.
North West Department Human Settlements Acting Head of Department James Mashigo called on the Rental Hosing Tribunal to popularise the organisation in rural areas where most of the tenants are leasing shacks. He emphasized the optimization of stakeholders’ engagement to ensure that the rights and obligations are not abused by both Land Owners and Tenants.
Source: Government of South Africa