TZANEEN – Tenants and business owners in the Tzaneen CBD are breathing a sigh of relief as the Boulevard Building, widely known as the Old Checkers, is set for redevelopment. This follows the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) council’s decision to waive a portion of the outstanding municipal debt on the property.

The building, which had been abandoned by its previous owners, Shamira Rinderknecht and Southern Sky Properties, was sold at auction for R7.3 million in April 2024, significantly less than its estimated value. During a special council meeting last week, the GTM council accepted a recommendation of R6.5 million from the trustee of the insolvent estate and the new owner, Fonce Gold (Pty) Ltd, to settle the outstanding municipal debt, which stood at R35 million in December 2024, including R14 million in interest.

In a report to the council, the finance and budget portfolio committee stated that the property had significantly deteriorated. “After a thorough review and consideration of the current situation, it became apparent that there were no reasonable prospects of recovering debt from the current owner (Rinderknecht), who has been declared insolvent by a court of law. The property was sold through auction to liquidate the insolvent estate,” the report said.

The GTM had previously obtained a default judgment in December 2023 for over R13 million to recover the debt but could not enforce the judgment as the estate was insolvent. Additionally, the municipality could not claim the outstanding debt from the new owner, and the transfer of the property could not proceed without a clearance certificate from the GTM.

Rene Pohl, DA exco member in the GTM, criticised the municipality’s handling of the situation. “The municipality failed to enforce its credit control bylaws and policies promptly regarding the building,” Pohl said.

“The building was left abandoned for years, with the owner owing GTM millions for rates and service charges. Due to prolonged inaction, the municipality was forced to write off approximately R29 million in outstanding municipal debt. This represents a severe financial blow to the municipality and raises serious questions about governance failures. We also demand to know who represented the municipality at the property auction and whether sufficient efforts were made to secure a better financial outcome,” Pohl added.