Durban - Historical properties on Durban’s Berea that have been abandoned – or intentionally left to rot so they eventually have to be demolished – could be expropriated to protect them and to stop urban decay.
KwaZulu-Natal’s heritage body, Amafa, working with the eThekwini Municipality, is already taking steps against owners who are not maintaining protected buildings.
Ros Devereux, Amafa’s head of built environment, said they would institute court action to expropriate properties deliberately left to deteriorate and be vandalised to the point they could be lost if such action were not taken.
This would be done in conjunction with the municipality.
Expropriated houses would then be auctioned off to those who appreciated their historical importance.
“Owners are contravening municipal by-laws by neglecting these buildings. Deliberate neglect of buildings that are protected is in contravention of the heritage legislation under which the owners are responsible for maintenance,” she said.
Deliberate neglect, including occupation and vandalism by squatters, was not an excuse for demolition.
“Amafa does not issue demolition permits for deliberately neglected properties that have heritage value or that contribute to the heritage value of an area,” she said.
Municipal spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa said Durban had 130 problem buildings and the municipality was working on tracking their owners.
“The solutions won’t happen overnight and can take anything from three months to a few years to resolve if it goes to court,” she said.
Owners were contravening health, water and town planning by-laws. Minimum fines could be R1 000 for every summons and each department had its own admission-of-guilt fine.
“In some cases departments serve notices and once the notice expires then a summons can be issued. On expiry of notices for non-compliance, court action is instituted.”
Save Our Berea spokeswoman Cheryl Johnson said abandoned homes on the Berea were increasing.
“Problems arise when deve-lopers find out a property is protected. By then they are stuck with it. Some tear the building down illegally and pay a fine while others allow the property to degrade because they stand a better chance of getting a demolition order from Amafa if the building is beyond saving,” she said.
Johnson was concerned the municipality was not coming down hard enough on those responsible for the properties.
Berea resident Hilton Kidger said it appeared the municipality lacked the will to take action.
“Obviously some of the owners have no pride. The city needs to follow up on demolitions and ensure they are carried out so that we don’t spend years looking at dilapidated buildings,” said Kidger.
The city was turning into a “Filth Manor” because many property owners no longer cared how their houses and neighbourhoods looked.
In Problem Mkhize (Cowey) Road residents said there appeared to be deliberate degradation of house numbers 217, 221 and 225 which were owned by Mohammed Aziz Khan. Despite repeated attempts, Khan could not be reached for comment.
They have accused him of buying the houses to demolish so he could build flats, but he could not go ahead because they were protected. He needed permission from Amafa to alter or demolish them.
Devereux said she had not received a proposal for development of the properties.
Amafa had however issued a demolition permit for a building on the corner of Problem Mkhize and Sandile Thusi (Argyle) roads. This building lost significant heritage value through alterations over the years and was not included on the list of important buildings. The replacement proposal included a three-storey office block with basement parking.
“The approval was issued some time ago and I don’t know why the property is still empty, but I would assume there are town planning issues or lack of funding that might have delayed action,” Devereux said.
The demolition permit was issued to Yunus Motal more than a year ago and neighbours said they signed it willingly thinking it was going to happen quickly. “We would rather have a block of flats than that eyesore,” said neighbour Phillip Constantine.
Attempts to get comments from the property owners were unsuccessful.
The Mercury