Plans to rebuild the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court set to commence 6 years down the line
Plans to rebuild the old Magistrate’s Court, which burnt down in October 2012, is underway at last, more than six years after it burnt down in October 2012.
POLOKWANE – The projected cost of the project is R108 Million.
The Polokwane Magistrate Offices were gutted by fire on 19 October 2012. The ground floor was completely burned and only a portion of the basement structure was not affected. Court documents and equipment destroyed in the fire, which took the fire brigade more than three hours to extinguish. The court was dealing with high profile cases at the time, for instance a case of fraud, corruption and money laundering against the then ANCYL president Julius Malema and his business partner Lesiba Gwangwa. Court cases were moved to Mankweng, Seshego, Ga-Matlala and Mokopane at the time.
Read more: Magistrate’s court won’t be moving to Ladanna
In early 2014 the then Spokesperson for the Justice Department said plans were afoot for the restoration of the building by 1 May 2015, but this never realised. The biggest reason seemingly for the delay was cited to be the unavailability of capital to reconstruct the building.
Read more: Magistrate’s Court to be rebuilt once funding is obtained
The project to rebuild the court is being managed by the Department of Public Works head office for effective implementation, according to Thami Mchunu, the departmental Spokesperson. “The scope of the project includes the reconstruction to sustain its original footprint, “ he said.
Read more about the projected time frame of the process in your Polokwane Review this week.
