Residents of Entumbane whose properties are still registered in the names of deceased relatives have been urged to approach the Bulawayo City Council for assistance in regularising ownership.
Ward 10 councillor Khalazani Ndlovu said some families were struggling to transfer properties because of outstanding council rates, disagreements among relatives and delays in registering deceased estates.
She said the council was working on payment arrangements to help affected families obtain the documents required to transfer ownership, even where they had outstanding rates.
Ndlovu said residents would ordinarily be required to settle their outstanding rates before the council could release documents needed for the transfer process.
On this topic
However, she said payment plans were available to help families regularise their accounts and proceed with the transfer.
“For them to acquire their documents, they have to wait until their rates are paid. However, we have managed to introduce the normal payment plan so that, when they want to acquire their documents for a second time, the council can process them,” she said.
Ndlovu said some cases were further complicated when relatives responsible for administering an estate lived outside the country or were unable to agree on how to proceed.
She cited a case involving siblings living in South Africa whose mother had died, with one of them unable to attend the burial.
Other relatives who attended the burial had completed some of the necessary paperwork, including obtaining the death certificate, but the estate still needed to be formally registered before the property could be transferred.
“In this particular case, the siblings were staying in South Africa, and one of them did not attend their mother’s burial. However, the relatives who attended the burial completed all the necessary paperwork, including obtaining the death certificate, so that they could proceed with registering the estate,” she said.
Ndlovu said the council was working to bring the relatives together to resolve the outstanding issues and allow the property transfer process to proceed.
“We are now trying to bring those relatives together so that they can register the estate and complete the necessary processes. We want to ensure that families are assisted in resolving these issues instead of allowing them to remain unresolved,” she said.
She urged residents with outstanding rates to engage the council and agree on payment plans that would enable them to obtain the necessary documents.
“We are encouraging residents to pay their rates so that they can acquire the necessary documents from the council and proceed with the transfer process,” she said.
Ndlovu said the council was also engaging its finance department to ensure that payment arrangements were practical and that families understood the deadlines attached to them.
“We are trying to engage with everyone involved in the finance department so that when families make arrangements to regularise ownership, they are given deadlines that they can agree to with their relatives and those affected,” she said.
She urged residents whose parents or other relatives had died while still registered as property owners to approach the council rather than leaving the estates unresolved.
“The council is requesting residents who have deceased parents or relatives and are facing challenges with transferring ownership to come forward. We can discuss payment plans with them and find ways of assisting them to acquire the necessary documents,” she said.
Leave a Reply