‘Hotel of horrors’: Action expected soon
One can only hope that the municipality sticks to its word and demolishes this criminal safe haven before the situation worsens.
THANKS to the Mail’s hounding, Ethekwini Municipality has promised that it will take “the necessary action in the near future” with regard to Umkomaas’s ‘Hotel of Horror’.
The hotel has seen little improvement since we last reported on it in May 30, 2014. The dilapidated building is still being used for a handful of dreadful and illegal activities. The building’s interior is carpeted with drug remains and human faeces. The stench is overpowering.
A profuse amount of empty Whoonga straws, used condoms and cardboard beds are lying around. The old hotel is a modern home for desperate street-dwellers and drug addicts.
Local residents and neighbours of the property contacted the owner numerous times in attempts to have the building demolished. The owner, who seems to be a resident in the area, claimed he did not have sufficient funds to do so, yet he owned several businesses nearby.
Ethekwini Municipality said they were not aware of the problem until it was brought to their attention by the Mail, but a spokesman assured they would be reacting in the near future. It also urges the public to report any illegal activity around the old building to the SAPS.
