Several more problem buildings have been targeted for demolition soon by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality as part of its long-awaited crackdown against errant owners.
Human settlements political head Nqaba Bhanga said the municipality had sent notifications to the owners of buildings on Victoria Street, including the Victoria Hotel, two abandoned buildings on Military Road, and the Premium Mill building along Victoria Quay.
Last week, The Herald reported that Transnet had been given two weeks to demolish its rundown white buildings across the road from the South End museum in Humerail or face court action, and that the education department had been served with a notice to demolish Khumbulani High School in North End which burnt down in 2010.
Transnet said it was aware of the notice and the provincial education department said it would comment on Monday.
“For now, we are going for each and every building in the city centre that is dilapidated,” Bhanga said.
“We want them [property owners] to act.
“If they don’t act, we are going to get court orders against them and, if they don’t demolish [the buildings], we will take proper steps against them.”
Bhanga said most of the buildings for which notifications had been sent were owned by Ken Denton. The Irish property owner declined to comment on Sunday.
Bhanga said the problem buildings committee cochaired by him and mayoral committee member in charge of safety and security John Best had identified several buildings they could immediately act on.
“If the owners don’t act, we will take them to court and the court will order that we either expropriate or demolish the buildings ourselves and have them carry the cost,” he said.
“The time for theory and warnings is gone.”
Bhanga said the municipality would no longer wait for the problem buildings bylaw to come into effect.
“We have to act now and will be using the Occupational Health and Safety Act [to deal with errant property owners].
“As far as the problem buildings bylaw is concerned, it has been endorsed by the mayoral committee and is awaiting council approval, but we can’t wait for the process to conclude when there are laws we can make use of.”
The municipality has identified 35 problem buildings, of which 26 have been issued with notices to rectify problems while nine were condemned as dangerous.
Of the 26 served with notices, 15 are abandoned and occupied by squatters and 11 are suspected of being used for illegal activities.
The tough new stance has been welcomed by Richmond Hill residents, who say they have been complaining about a hijacked building in the area for more than three years.
Bhanga confirmed the Richmond Hill property known as Overport House was “one of the buildings we’re after”.
On Thursday, drug paraphernalia, used needles and rubbish were scattered all over the property.
Several squatters milled around the Mark Lane house and the smell of excrement was overwhelming.
Richmond Hill Special Ratings Area chair Kevin Slattery said the property had been on their radar for years.
“We’ve approached every law-enforcement agency to try to see if we can have it shut down just from a safety and security point of view.”
Bhanga said: “Rest assured, something will be done about that house. It will not take another three years.”
A resident who lives near the house said: “The drugs are a big problem [and] it’s busy all night. It’s getting worse and worse.”
Two other residents – a married couple – said the residents were standing together amid the rising crime.
None of the residents wanted to be named because of safety fears.
“The beggars who go to buy drugs there steal everything they can lay their hands on, our light fittings, our security cameras – whatever they can get R20 for, they steal,” the woman said.
Her husband said: “What I take issue with is our esteemed mayor [Athol Trollip].
“He would come to our meetings and look me in the eye and say ‘we’re going to close that [house] down within 24 hours’.
“But zero has happened.” The man said Trollip had made the promise about six months ago.
Mayoral spokesperson Sibongile Dimbaza said: “The phenomenon around the hijacking of empty buildings remains a challenge because it breeds lawlessness and the area where this takes place becomes infested with criminal activities.
“It is unacceptable and as the municipality we’re doing everything in our power to rid the city of this infestation.
“This is an ongoing exercise, but the problem cannot possibly be addressed overnight.”