Costly but empty
THE Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM) has declined to disclose the rent it has been paying for two buildings in Cathcart Road for over a year, without making productive use of the space.
The Rep received a tip-off recently that CHDM was renting the premises previously occupied by two furniture stores.
Employees at CHDM, who did not want to be identified, said water meter readers used a small corner in one of the two huge buildings to rest and keep their books.
They said the carpets were changed in April and partitions were erected.
The employees also claimed water accounts were piled up in one of the buildings, which is why people were not receiving them.
The accounts, claimed the employees, have been piling up since December. “It is not the duty of the meter readers to deliver water accounts, but sometimes they are asked to work overtime on a Saturday to deliver them.”
CHDM communications officer Lonwabo Kowa said they had been renting the premises for more than a year.
“The rent paid is according to the market value of the premises. CHDM has a contract directly with the owner of the building to avoid middle-men fees.
“The municipality is utilising the premises. We are now at a process of having more staff, furniture and other equipment to increase usage of the building (sic),” he said.
He said construction of an office complex for CHDM was anticipated to begin at the end of this year and would bring relief in terms of the accommodation shortages.
“Water accounts and other important documents of the institution are safely kept at the premises. The water accounts are delivered over weekends by meter readers in the interim.
“This is due to challenges with the Post Office. A process to recruit field workers [to deliver accounts] is already under way,” Kowa said.
He said the CHDM staff complement had grown massively over the past few years and “we have not been able to acquire sufficient funds for a suitable office space. This compels the institution to utilise rented facilities.”