Councillor fights for Imperial Hotel residents’ rights
The Durban High Court confirmed at the end of September that the residents of Imperial Hotel needed to be evicted.
THE deteriorating conditions of the Imperial Hotel in Pinetown came under the spotlight during a recent oversight visit by officials to assist its residents who now face eviction.
The Ward 18 councillor, Melanie Brauteseth, conducted an oversight visit at the Imperial Hotel in the Pinetown CBD. She was accompanied by MPL Sharon Hoosen (social development), MP and former councillor, Tim Brauteseth and officials from SASSA.
ALSO READ: Imperial Hotel residents live in perilous conditions
Brauteseth said the reason for the oversight was to assess the building and the living conditions of its residents.
“The owners of the Imperial Hotel want to develop the site and have been involved in litigation since 2014 to try and evict the residents who live there. The matter came to head in September 2018 when the Durban High Court confirmed the owners could no longer let the premises and the current residents should be evicted. The court order also instructed eThekwini Municipality to provide ‘temporary, emergency’ accommodation to the residents of the hotel,” said Melanie Brauteseth.
The ward councillor enlisted the assistance of SASSA officials to ascertain which of the residents are grant recipients. Once this exercise has been completed, Melanie Brauteseth and MPL Hoosen will petition the Department of Social Development to provide grant recipients living in the building with accommodation in places of safety, as mandated by the department’s policy guidelines.
“The situation the residents of Imperial Hotel find themselves in is extremely distressing. Rooms are divided by thin pieces of sheeting, floorboards are rotten and illegal electrical cables dangle dangerously throughout the building.
ALSO READ: Conditions at the Imperial Hotel will be monitored
“There is no water and sanitation and the excavated pit outside the hotel has become a garbage and vermin infested lake where children play on a daily basis,” said Melanie Brauteseth.
“The courts have brought this matter to finalisation and it is now up to eThekwini Municipality to awake from their slumber and care for the well-being of these residents. The Department of Social Development must also provide urgent relief to the grant recipients residing in the Imperial Hotel. It is unconscionable that this situation can be allowed to persist while the governing party turns a blind eye. I will fight tirelessly for the rights of these residents to get the services they deserve,” Brauteseth said.
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