“THE days of the state buildings standing empty and attracting crime to communities and chasing away investment is coming to an end. The days of state holding on to buildings it does not need and unable to maintain is coming to an end.”

Those were the words of the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson at the groundbreaking and historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the national and provincial Department of Public of Works and Infrastructure and the eThekwini Municipality on Wednesday evening at the Durban ICC.

The MOU targets bad buildings littering the city and will eventually see eThekwini, and then eventually the rest of the country, “turned into a construction site” with the aid of a public-private partnership.

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“We need to start using public assets for public good and turn South Africa into a construction site. Imagine properties such as the police barracks no longer standing empty and being an eyesore as you drive into Durban, either being you by the state or the private sector that might want to refurbish it. Imagine the former hijacked Excelsior Court building in Berea no longer forcing residents to be hostages in their own homes but rather another residential development that generates rates for the city and a building that take pride in its community. This partnership is a first that this is being done by our department and will soon be replicated countrywide,” said Macpherson.

The mayor of eThekwini Municipality welcomed the joint venture and said an overhaul is on the cards for the city. “The MOU that we are signing today will account for a combined 68 715 properties. With such a large property portfolio it is inevitable that some of the properties have no obvious relationship to current and future service delivery and can be regarded as surplus if they are unused or abandoned which leaves them vulnerable to hijacking and illegal occupation,” said Xaba.

The MEC for Public Works Martin Meyer said among the buildings that will be affected is the Esplanade government building “which is an eye sore” for the city. “We will be handing over this site to contractors to fix this building up then move government departments into that building so we can stop paying leases unnecessarily for government,” said Meyer.

He said public-private partnership is the way to go to make better use of government assets.

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“As the KZN Department of Public Works our measure is to combat this by leasing out land and prime sites to the public and private sector by repurposing identified buildings as accommodation for low-cost housing and students or NGOs. We have identified buildings in eThekwini that can be used as shelters. In the case of hijacked buildings, we require law enforcement and the municipality to work together. Whether government or NGOs are using it, every building that we own will serve the people of eThekwini,” said Meyer.

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