Historical site left in ruin

STANDING proud at the corner of Imperial Lane and Railway street in Pinetown, the once grand Imperial Hotel has turned into a house of horrors.

According to ward 18 councillor, Tim Brauteseth, this once famous landmark is now a slumlord haven where 76 impoverished families eke out an existence.

“The building, now owned by Abdul Kader Ismail, is a warren of corridors created by dry walling to create extra rooms, is riddled with structural defects, dodgy wooden flooring and dangerous electrical connections,” said Brauteseth.

Brauteseth said he had recently asked the Fire Department to conduct an inspection of the premises and they had reported 15 major issues which included illegal partitioning, structural defects threatening imminent collapse, lack of fire detection equipment, escape routes, fire extinguishers, and lighting to assist with fire drills. “There is also the issue of town planning and building code violations,” he said.

“In short, the building is a death trap – a catastrophe waiting to happen. I have met with the owners on site and have challenged them as to what action they are planning to take. They collect between R500 and R600 per person a month which equates to R150 000 per month. How much of that is being invested in improving the conditions of the building for their tenants? While I understand that it is difficult to work comprehensively on a building when residents are present, you can at least attend to the safety measures required by the by laws of the city,” said Brauteseth.

According to Brauteseth, the ideal long term solution will be to allocate all 76 families to RDP housing units and then demolish the building to make way for new development.

“The problem is that the provincial housing plan is so far behind. We have to build 408 000 units. The current administration is managing only 4000 units per year and so it could take 100 years to get rid of the backlog. A further complication is that the population of eThekwini has grown by approximately 50 000 people per year over the last 12 years and shows no sign of stopping. With that scenario we may never reach our targets unless the current administration starts to think out of the box and employ alternate quality housing models that are quicker to erect and cost less. The models are there – is there the political will to use other suppliers and cut corruption? That is the question,” he said.

Brauteseth said he would take up the plight of the Imperial Hotel residents in terms of the vulnerable persons policy to see if he could expedite their housing claims.

Meanwhile Nazeem Khan who is Ismail’s accountant, said an offer to purchase the building had been received, but owner, AK Ismail had turned it down because he wanted to develop the property himself.

“I agree the building is a hazard and we want to bring it down so we can develop it, but we have to get permission from AMAFA to do this as it’s an historical site,” said Khan.

He added that he required assistance from council to move the tenants and vagrants, who were not paying rent, out the building.

“We have resorted to legal means and are currently awaiting the process,” said Khan.