Derelict building hazard
Criminals, addicts a growing concern
ABANDONED and derelict buildings cause security threats to residents and are becoming breeding grounds for drug addicts.
Peter Mokaba (formerly Ridge) Road, Durban, and Overport residents yesterday blamed the eThekwini Municipality for not implementing the Problem Buildings by-law, which came into effect in March last year.
This by-law seeks to identify, control and re-rehabilitate problem buildings. The city recently revealed that it was inspecting 95 buildings across the city.
Brian Robb, a Peter Mokaba Road architect and resident, said number 97 – just across the road from his home – had been an eyesore “for years”.
“This building should be condemned. With all the broken health and safety by-laws, no one should be occupying the building. Broken windows, leaking water pipes, broken lifts and a lack of security are a risk to the occupants.
“We have had problems with these occupants because some of them dispose of unwanted items by throwing them through the windows. It’s just not acceptable as this is devaluing properties in the area.”
Robb said he had been living in the area for 10 years and the derelict block of flats near his home was getting worse.
“It’s a slum and it’s sickening, because no one wants to take responsibility for this.”
Another resident, 81-year-old Kathy Frank, said she had long since stopped complaining about the building.
“It’s tiring. On weekends we battle to sleep because of the loud partying. The area is rat-infested because of the filth the squatters throw out of the windows.
“I’m just tired of talking about it,” Frank said.
Meanwhile, whoonga addicts have occupied a derelict doublestorey building at the corner of East and Earl Haig roads. A man who identified himself as Molwalo said addicts had been staying there for years.
“My boss asks me to clean here from time to time to prevent weeds from growing,” he said.
The DA said it was unacceptable that more than 15 months since this by-law was gazetted, the city had failed to ensure its effective implementation.
DA councillor Marlaine Nair said problem buildings across the city presented themselves as hideouts for criminals, criminal activity and illegal dumping.
She said answers to the DA’s questions at a recent full council sitting revealed there were 95 buildings across the city that were being assessed.
“However, since the by-law had not yet been properly implemented, zero buildings have been declared problem buildings. Seventy-one compliance notices were sent out between July last year and March this year, but old by-laws, instead of the Problem Buildings By-law, were being used,” Nair said.
She said of the total number of problem buildings identified, five were council-owned and several belonged to other spheres of government.
In the past financial year, only three buildings had been successfully rehabilitated, she said.
“It appears that iTrump (inner Thekwini Regeneration and Urban Management Programme), which is mandated to deal with the problem buildings is failing miserably because they do not have sufficient human resources to deal with the problem effectively.
“Previously, iTrump had two metro police officers and four environmental health practitioners allocated to them. But all members have been recalled, leaving one person in the department to deal with this issue. Without adequate staff, tracing owners of the buildings and following through with the necessary legal processes presents a huge problem,” she said.
iTrump plays a co-ordinating role with the various line departments, including the police and Home Affairs.
In April 2015, Tozi Mthethwa, eThekwini spokesperson, said several derelict buildings had been identified through iTrump, and the annual operating budget to seal off buildings was about R2 million.
A senior municipal employee confirmed that the metro police had been removed from the programme and that this was only revealed in the response to the DA questions.
Hoosen Moola, iTrump senior manager, said there were strategies in place to deal with the problem buildings and landlords would be held accountable once identified.
Sipho Nzuza, the municipal manager, said a “proper plan” would be drawn up to deal with the problem buildings.