Uncertainty still reigns around the immediate future of the Melgisedek buildings in the centre of Pretoria. This after assurances were given that all the residents would be relocated by the end of July 2025.

During a recent Bad Buildings Committee site visit to the Melgisedek buildings, Kholofelo Morodi, MMC for Corporate and Shared Services stated that unconfirmed figures estimate that the population of the of the area consists of about 60% foreign nationals, and they are ‘a disaster waiting to happen’.

The Melgisedek buildings, close to Steve Biko Academic Hospital, have become synonymous for being in a state of severe urban decay, and are alleged to be a haven for vagrancy, crime, and illegal trading.

They, together with the Mahala flats on the same ground, have previously been declared to be uninhabitable by the metro.

In April, metro spokesperson on housing, Nic Botha, said that the metro would be relocating all residents by the end of July, as part of the metro’s policy to prevent buildings from being hijacked.

At that time. Botha stated, “We will evacuate the building to ready it for the next phase of our renewal programme. During this phase we want to again utilise previously hijacked buildings.”

He continued, reminding that there is a legal obligation on the part of the municipality to provide temporary accommodation to people who have lost homes in a forced eviction.

He added that a court order would need to be obtained before residents could be evicted, and that social workers from both non-governmental and governmental support services, and other agencies would be on hand to assist in the evictions.

The planned evictions did not take place, and Morodi appears to be laying the blame for this on several groups, saying, “A squatter camp right in the middle of the CBD? Melgisedek has been standing in this state for the past 21 years.

“All previous administrations faced hurdles from human rights lawyers opposing the city’s actions, to the tenants being hostile towards any relocation efforts.

“However, we can’t negotiate when we see an imminent disaster about to happen,”

Morodi said the metro is preparing select properties for development, and plans to clear Melgisedek once suitable alternative housing is identified for its occupants.

This follows engagements with the University of Pretoria over the possibility of converting the building into student accommodation.

Morodi also said the metro would not fund the buildings’ refurbishment, but bidding to private sector developers will take place to see who would lease and redevelop the property under a long-term agreement.
Morodi added.

During a site visit in September, Tshwane mayor, Dr Nasiphi Moya, stated that the issues of the former government building are well known and form part of the committee’s list of items that will need to be addressed. She did not specify when this list will be addressed.

The many people who reside there, needing to be relocated, have been thorns in the side of both the current and previous administrations’ plans to refurbish the building.

Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1995797085107458270

A squatter camp right in the middle of the CBD?

Melgisedek has been standing in this state for the past 21 years. All previous administration faced hurdles from Human Rights lawyers opposing City’s actions to the tenants being hostile towards any relocation efforts.

However we… https://t.co/S6ubEfXytr pic.twitter.com/JKddUPE7tR

— Kholofelo Morodi (@kholofeloMorodi) December 2, 2025

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok or WhatsApp Channel