Using technology to speedily resolve rental disputes

The Department of Infrastructure’s Rental Housing Tribunal (RHT) uses online platforms to ease workflow, resolve case backlogs, and efficiently communicate with tenants and landlords about rental disputes.

In 2020, COVID-19 pushed RHT into using online facilities to facilitate hearings and mediation sessions. Since the end of the pandemic, the Western Cape RHT uses a hybrid approach that blends virtual and face-to-face methods of resolving disputes. This is done in a refurbished workspace which includes 2 mediation rooms and 2 hearing rooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

“Although it (virtual hearings) is a good innovation, many tenants and landlords do not have easy access to virtual hearings”, says Sithembele Tyutula, Assistant Director: Public Information and Stakeholder Relations.

“The team has to assess whether the citizen can connect online, otherwise they must connect with the person in our building.”

RHT’s online Client Relationship Management (CRM) application (app) allows tenants and landlords to submit enquiries using their smartphones. Clients can access this service from anywhere, at any time, having previously had to visit their municipal housing office for assistance. The app is geared towards a paperless complaint registration and administration process.

The app’s user-friendly web interface allows clients to submit complaints online for assistance with a rental dispute. Clients can update, review, and track progress of the enquiry via the app. Once the complaint is submitted, clients will immediately receive a case number for reference purposes.

The RHT was established in 2000 and is one of the oldest tribunals in the country. It assisted 35 000 tenants and landlords between 2000 and 2020 and has steadily reduced the pre-COVID backlog of 2 000 cases.

“The Tribunal has 90 days to finalise complaints. Any complaint that is older than 90 days is becomes a backlog complaint,” says Tyutula. “In the last two financial cycles, the backlog average has come down to about 300 complaints, and we view this as a big success after much focus has been put on this issue.”