Landlords who neglect problem buildings in Nelson Mandela Bay will be served with compliance notices by the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority.
Officials from the authority visited four buildings in Central — the Old Post Office, the old Harbour Board Building, Port Elizabeth Railway Station and Highview Flats — at the weekend.
The authority’s chair, Dumisani Sibayi, said a number of heritage buildings in the Bay needed protection.
“It is high time we send a strong message to developers and the public,” Sibayi said.
“Some people ask us why we spend so much time preserving colonial buildings but, unfortunately, we own these buildings, and we have a responsibility to implement our legislation.
“It’s no longer colonial legislation; these are buildings we need to protect.
“We try our best, with the assistance of conservation bodies and other state organs, to ensure we issue compliance notices. We will write those letters.”
Sibayi said if landlords did not comply with the heritage resources authority’s notices, it could invoke Section 45 of the National Heritage Resources Act, which would allow for compulsory repair orders to be issued to the owners.
He was joined on Saturday by the authority’s manager, Azola Mkosana, after being invited to the city by the DA.
Also present for the visit to the buildings were DA MPL Retief Odendaal, Ward 5 councillor Terri Stander and DA caucus chair Rano Kayser.
Sibayi said there was a misconception among developers that the job of the authority was to save every building, which was untrue.
“We look at the state of the building and the significance of the building.
“There will be situations where we issue permits for demolition because there’s no way to save it.
“We do allow for sustainable development. Apply for a permit, and we send people to look,” he said.
Standing next to the Old Post Office, adjacent to City Hall, Odendaal said the municipality had failed to implement its own problem buildings bylaws.
The building was declared a national monument in 1984 and is owned by Ken Denton.
It is classified as a grade 2 structure under Section 7(1) of the National Heritage Resources Act No 25 of 1999.
According to the Heritage Resources Act, no person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position, subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit issued by the Heritage Resources Authority.
“When we met one of the landlords, Denton, we made it clear that he has allowed some of these buildings to go derelict, and he said to us that very often, it was government institutions such as [the authority] that made it impossible for him to upgrade some of his buildings,” Odendaal said.
“I said to him, if that was the case, how many applications to compel did you launch against these institutions, and he said not a single one.
“So, we said to him but then you were never serious about upgrading those buildings or maintaining those buildings, and you’ve used the failures of government to your advantage.
“The law says you maintain your property, otherwise it affects the use the adjoining property owners have of their specific properties because the use and enjoyment you have of your property and your property value also gets affected negatively.”
The group also visited the Port Elizabeth Railway Station, which was damaged by an explosion caused by a gas leak in 2011.
Parts of the structure are held upright by logs, preventing the wall from collapsing.
Odendaal said the heritage resources authority needed to assist in applying pressure on property owners, including Transnet, which owned some of the problem buildings in the city.
“We need to treat everybody equally. We’re not singling out people, and government institutions also need to come to the party,” he said.
Stander said there was a clause in the problem buildings bylaws that stated if a building was deemed unsafe and unhealthy, and affected the health and safety of the surrounding community, the municipality could without notice demolish, renovate or paint the property.
“I’ve been trying to drive that for three years, and finally I got a whole bunch of different representatives from the COO’s office to cover legal services, and they told me outright they cannot implement their bylaw without a court order. That is their excuse.”
On Sunday, Denton acknowledged some of his buildings “may appear” derelict but said this was part of a strategic plan to secure tenants before initiating renovations.
“The meeting with the DA was productive, and I did mention that the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority has been a factor in our renovation timeline due to the need for approvals.
“I am committed to revitalising these properties and contributing positively to the community.
“I look forward to sharing more details on our progress in the future.”
The Herald
Heritage authority vows to clamp down on owners of problem buildings
Image: SUPPLIED
Landlords who neglect problem buildings in Nelson Mandela Bay will be served with compliance notices by the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority.
Officials from the authority visited four buildings in Central — the Old Post Office, the old Harbour Board Building, Port Elizabeth Railway Station and Highview Flats — at the weekend.
The authority’s chair, Dumisani Sibayi, said a number of heritage buildings in the Bay needed protection.
“It is high time we send a strong message to developers and the public,” Sibayi said.
“Some people ask us why we spend so much time preserving colonial buildings but, unfortunately, we own these buildings, and we have a responsibility to implement our legislation.
“It’s no longer colonial legislation; these are buildings we need to protect.
“We try our best, with the assistance of conservation bodies and other state organs, to ensure we issue compliance notices. We will write those letters.”
Sibayi said if landlords did not comply with the heritage resources authority’s notices, it could invoke Section 45 of the National Heritage Resources Act, which would allow for compulsory repair orders to be issued to the owners.
He was joined on Saturday by the authority’s manager, Azola Mkosana, after being invited to the city by the DA.
Also present for the visit to the buildings were DA MPL Retief Odendaal, Ward 5 councillor Terri Stander and DA caucus chair Rano Kayser.
Sibayi said there was a misconception among developers that the job of the authority was to save every building, which was untrue.
“We look at the state of the building and the significance of the building.
“There will be situations where we issue permits for demolition because there’s no way to save it.
“We do allow for sustainable development. Apply for a permit, and we send people to look,” he said.
Standing next to the Old Post Office, adjacent to City Hall, Odendaal said the municipality had failed to implement its own problem buildings bylaws.
The building was declared a national monument in 1984 and is owned by Ken Denton.
It is classified as a grade 2 structure under Section 7(1) of the National Heritage Resources Act No 25 of 1999.
According to the Heritage Resources Act, no person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position, subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit issued by the Heritage Resources Authority.
“When we met one of the landlords, Denton, we made it clear that he has allowed some of these buildings to go derelict, and he said to us that very often, it was government institutions such as [the authority] that made it impossible for him to upgrade some of his buildings,” Odendaal said.
“I said to him, if that was the case, how many applications to compel did you launch against these institutions, and he said not a single one.
“So, we said to him but then you were never serious about upgrading those buildings or maintaining those buildings, and you’ve used the failures of government to your advantage.
“The law says you maintain your property, otherwise it affects the use the adjoining property owners have of their specific properties because the use and enjoyment you have of your property and your property value also gets affected negatively.”
The group also visited the Port Elizabeth Railway Station, which was damaged by an explosion caused by a gas leak in 2011.
Parts of the structure are held upright by logs, preventing the wall from collapsing.
Odendaal said the heritage resources authority needed to assist in applying pressure on property owners, including Transnet, which owned some of the problem buildings in the city.
“We need to treat everybody equally. We’re not singling out people, and government institutions also need to come to the party,” he said.
Stander said there was a clause in the problem buildings bylaws that stated if a building was deemed unsafe and unhealthy, and affected the health and safety of the surrounding community, the municipality could without notice demolish, renovate or paint the property.
“I’ve been trying to drive that for three years, and finally I got a whole bunch of different representatives from the COO’s office to cover legal services, and they told me outright they cannot implement their bylaw without a court order. That is their excuse.”
On Sunday, Denton acknowledged some of his buildings “may appear” derelict but said this was part of a strategic plan to secure tenants before initiating renovations.
“The meeting with the DA was productive, and I did mention that the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority has been a factor in our renovation timeline due to the need for approvals.
“I am committed to revitalising these properties and contributing positively to the community.
“I look forward to sharing more details on our progress in the future.”
The Herald
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