By Thapelo Molefe
The Johannesburg High Court has dismissed an urgent court bid by the owner of Marble Towers to prevent the City of Joburg from acting against allegedly illegal structures erected at the CBD property.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Judge Leicester Adams dismissed an application brought by Goldenrod Group (Pty) Ltd after finding that several container structures on the Rahima Moosa Street property were built without approved plans and did not comply with building regulations.
Goldenrod Group had sought an interim interdict preventing the city and its officials from demolishing, removing, dismantling or interfering with the structures at Marble Towers.
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But the court also ruled that the city could not demolish the structures without first obtaining the necessary authorisation.
The court found that no building plans had ever been submitted or approved by the municipality for the structures, despite repeated enforcement notices issued over several years.
“There can accordingly be little doubt that the structures in question are illegal and that the City is entitled to enforce compliance with the law,” Adams said in the judgment.
The court heard that the city first initiated enforcement proceedings against the property in April 2022 and later issued multiple contravention notices directing the company to remove illegal structures and submit building plans.
According to the judgment, the applicant ignored several notices from the municipality, including a directive issued in May 2025 instructing it to submit building plans within 21 days.
Adams said the company also failed to disclose the full enforcement history when approaching the court on an urgent basis.
“This breaches the duty of uberrima fides owed by an applicant in an application, especially one brought on an urgent basis,” the judge said.
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The court further found that any urgency in the matter was self-created because the company had more than four years to regularise the structures.
The matter followed a mayoral high-impact service delivery operation conducted in the Johannesburg inner city earlier this month. The city argued that the operation formed part of a routine multi-departmental enforcement operation involving several properties and was not a targeted campaign against Goldenrod Group.
Adams said demolition would require authorisation in terms of section 21 of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act.
The court issued a structural order directing Goldenrod Group to immediately stop all construction activities and prevent occupation of structures identified by the city as non-compliant.
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The company was ordered to cordon off and secure the structures within 72 hours, remove structures encroaching on municipal property and public pavements, and submit compliant building plans within 20 days.
Goldenrod Group was also instructed to address fire safety defects, including emergency exits, fire detection systems, emergency lighting and evacuation procedures.
The city will be entitled to inspect the property after the compliance period and may take further lawful enforcement action if the company fails to comply.
The court also directed the parties to engage in mediation if necessary and allowed either side to return to court should the order not be complied with, mediation fail, or Goldenrod fail to obtain lawful approvals.
Goldenrod Group was ordered to pay the City of Johannesburg’s legal costs, including counsel’s fees.
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