The ward 116 councillor, Clr Carlos da Rocha, blames the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) for the dilapidation of the restaurant at Rhodes Park.
The now defunct restaurant has no windows or doors as these were stolen. It has no furniture and it is evident that vagrants are using the premises.
Clr Da Rocha said the problem started many years ago when the former tenants started using the building as a shebeen-type pub.
“The residents complained that the patrons were making a noise and fighting in the middle of the night. The tenants also stopped paying their rent to the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). The residents also said that it was bringing down the value of the area. That led to it to being closed,” he said.
According to Clr Da Rocha, this was the start of all the problems.
“The city evicted them. A walk-in fridge was stolen during that time. Because the fridge was big, the walls were broken for them to take it out. The vandalism has not stopped since then,” he said.
He said when other people wanted to lease it, the JPC asked for a high rent.
Clr Da Rocha said the lease was put on tender but due to the high rent and its status, even those who wanted it could not operate it.
“They would show interest but not continue with the lease. At that time, the vandalism was continuing. It was at this time that the city had to secure the place. It was empty and the council property was being vandalised. They had to do something about it,” he said.
Clr Da Rocha said leasing became expensive.
“For anyone who wants to reopen this, they would have to spend about R1-million to fix and restore the building. It’s not easy to find someone who is willing to spend R1-million to fix government property. If he is, he would want to spend less on rent,” said Clr Da Rocha.
According to Clr Da Rocha, now that the building is in its current state, council has two options.
“It has to fix it. If it does not have the money to do it, then they have to demolish it,” said Clr Da Rocha.
