Dr Samantha Smith is STBB's chief Content Writer and Legal Editor, a position she has occupied since February 2024. Samantha graduated with a BSocSci, LLB, LLM, and PhD (Law) from the University of Cape Town. She brainstorms and writes all social media, newsflashes, newsletters, digital and print advertisements, magazine articles, webinar invitations, and podcast blurbs. Furthermore, Samantha creates tenders and proposals, legal updates and presentations, information sheets, content for special projects, and text for various other digital publications and communications. Additionally, she writes or edits biographies, and works on brochures, handouts, and other STBB collateral. Outside of her demanding role, Samantha is a passionate animal and environmental advocate whose comprehensive research has been praised by some of the world's leading animal law experts, including the planet's most published animal law scholar and an Acting Justice of South Africa's Constitutional Court.

Gauteng Newsflash | Urgent notice: The City of Johannesburg is currently offline

As part of a plan to address several key processes, the City of Johannesburg’s system (‘the COJ’) is currently offline.

While we cannot be certain, we expect the shutdown to continue for approximately three weeks as the COJ finalises the financial year-end, implements new tariff increases, and undertakes a system upgrade aimed at improving billing services.

Presently, the only service that remains operational during this period is the billing and payment portal.

Unfortunately, the shutdown affects all services related to the change of ownership following the registration of transfer, refunds, billing queries, rates adjustments, and obtaining rates clearance figures and RCCs. Accordingly, please anticipate delays due to the backlog the shutdown is likely to cause.

While we are unable to provide our valued clients with any further information or updates at this stage, we will endeavour to keep you informed.

For further information, contact your dedicated conveyancer, paralegal, or key account manager.

This content is the property of STBB. We encourage the sharing of our content for informational purposes. However, if you wish to copy or reproduce our content on your own platform or website, please ensure that proper credit is given to STBB.

For the best legal advice and personalised service, let's talk
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters, subscribe