The building of Tshwane House, the new complex that will be home to the metro municipality, will start next month.
The R1,2bn building will replace the old Munitoria building that was demolished by implosion some two years ago.
According to Jason Ngobeni, Tshwane metro manager, the complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
“The first phase, which comprises the council chamber, will be completed by October 2016 with the rest of the building being finalised two months later, in December 2016,” Ngobeni said at a mayoral media briefing held on Wednesday.
He stressed that the cost of the building of Tshwane House had been approved, not only by Tshwane metro, but also by the required national government departments such as treasury.
The land on which the new municipal complex will be built, belongs to the metro and the first soil turning will take place in the first week of February, Ngobeni said.
He dismissed as completely incorrect the figure of R4,9bn which had been bandied about as the total cost of the building. That figure, he said, was based on inaccurate information and wrong formulae used.
About the delay in completing the upgrading of roads in the Pretoria CBD, Ngobeni said the mayor had occasions already apologized on several to businesses and the public for the inconvenience and delay in completion, which was not caused by problems with service providers.
He said the delay would be about six months, but several steps were being implemented to alleviate traffic congestion and inconvenience to drivers and businesses.
Tshwane executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa told the briefing that a decision had been taken by the council to auction off some 81 parcels of land in Tshwane as a means of raising capital to meet the increasing demand for housing in the capital city.
“The metro is aiming to catalyse private sector investment by selling at least 81 properties by way of public auction in line with the municipal finance management legislation,” he said.
He said although the controversial parcel of land in Colbyn, which borders on the Colbyn Wetlands conservation area was also up for auction, the sale would exclude the wetlands.
“The wetlands will be excluded and its current characteristics would be maintained,” Ramokgopa said.
Several other issued discussed at the briefing included the metro’s plan of providing accommodation for 124 000 households in cooperation with the provincial government and the private sector, and leasing the two power stations (Pretoria West and Rooiwal) to private sector. They were currently running at 15% of capacity but would be brought back to full capacity.
The mayor also stressed that not land grabbing or invasions would be tolerated and reiterated that the metro had already obtained a blanket order interdicting the invasion of metro-owned land.
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