‘eyesore’ Shell House
“We have given tenants notice to vacate the property in terms of the lease,” Broll’s manager for Shell House, Lucas Moledi, said in a statement in answer to questions this week.
“The lease agreement provides, as most leases do, that if the building is being redeveloped, the landlord may give tenants notice. In this case, the notice period is six months, which is unusually long.”
The traders, who sell everything from shoes to nappies, are the only occupants of the building. The single entrance to other floors in the building, in front of which is an impromptu hair-braiding studio, is closed to all except those the security guards cryptically refer to as “contractors”, although there is no sign that any work is underway.
Several of the traders this week complained that they were being forced out of the building by nefarious means, such as electricity being withheld despite their payment of rent.
“I’m spending R300 a day on petrol so I can sell here,” said one trader above the whine of a portable generator. The sound of many generators echoes throughout the building, with cables running inside to power lights and showcase electronics.
The traders said the electricity outage, now weeks old, coincided suspiciously with the notices they were given to vacate.
Moledi confirmed that Shell House had been entirely without electricity for nearly three weeks, but said the timing was a coincidence.
“At first, we were subject to a power outage in the area, which lasted about five days,” Moledi said. When that was rectified, the building’s management discovered “vandals had gained access to the basement and attempted to steal cables. In the process they severely damaged the electrical infrastructure.”
Traders were contemptuous of the suggestion that efforts were underway to fix the electrical problem, but reluctantly agreed that the building was prone to break-ins and theft. One trader reported two major thefts in one month. Another told how he believed burglars had gained access to his store by way of a broken highlevel window, a fire escape and sufficient crawling space above a ceiling.
In fact, Shell House is in such a bad state that securing a buyer is something of a victory for the ANC. In November last year, Mkhize had reported to the party’s NEC meeting that Shell House was occupied by illegal tenants and was an “eyesore”, according to an internal report.
“It is becoming an embarrassment, losing value and beginning to cost the ANC heavily in rates and reputation, and attracts criminal elements and negative publicity,” Mkhize’s report said. He added that the ANC needed to act quickly before it lost the building, considered one of its most valuable assets.
“The property is in a prime spot [and] it’s highly sought after by developers, with potential to develop it for commercial and residential purposes,” Mkhize said. It is in a busy part of the city centre, and is also close to taxi and bus ranks and train stations.
“It [Shell House] was dilapidated, street kids and adults lived there and water was leaking all over the building,” an NEC member said this week.
Some water leaks were still evident this week, but one trader tenant said efforts had been made to make the building “prettier” by removing mounds of rubbish and closing off water pipes.
The City of Johannesburg is currently relaying the pavement outside the building’s entrance, a project that has, on occasion, created traffic jams of epic proportions. — Additional reporting by Matuma Letsoalo