Its beauty is now marred by the plastic and filth that abound, in addition to the worn out paint.
Some even compare it to a jungle, due to the heaps of garbage and the long grass on the surrounding grounds.
Its state and the poor maintenance disgusts and terrifies residents like Lynn Davey, the daughter-in-law of Bill Davey, the man who stared the Daveyton Township.
“I lived in Benoni for 68 years and was married in the then town hall; that place used to be lovely and I want to cry every time I look at it,” said Davey, who added that Bill would be disappointed because he wanted Benoni and Daveyton to have the best facilities.
She said the grass is so high that she wants to put a goat and a sheep in there.
“The grass is about 3m high and nobody would notice them until they have eaten all of it,” she added.
Davey believes that there must also be some kind of chemical to clean the deteriorating graffiti on the walls.
“Everybody is talking about the state of the city hall,” she said.
Resident Mike Harper is also depressed by the state of the facility.
He drives past it every day and said its condition is appalling.
“The city hall is the benchmark of Benoni; what is happening to it?,” he asked.
“The grass is a metre high and it now looks like an absolute jungle.”
Harper added that the place is deteriorating and that the council needs to do something about it.
Ward 73 councillor Sipho Ngobese and the Ekurhuleni Metro said the city hall is now being renovated and has been closed indefinitely due to “water leaks and the ageing infrastructure”.
“Fixing of the roof will commence from April 1, and the other work will commence in July,” said metro spokesman Themba Gadebe.
He said the grass will be attended to as soon as the weather clears and that ” the parks department will assist immediately with the litter.”
Ngobese estimated that the renovation work would take three years to complete.
“It must be noted that the city hall is a heritage place and everything that needs to be done on it must first be approved by the Heritage Association of South Africa,” said Ngobese.
He added that it would, however, be open to public again at some stage.
Asked why it took so long to fix the hall, Ngobese said that, previously, there was not enough money, but that it’s now part of the budget.
In the meantime, people are advised to use surrounding facilities, like the John Barrable Hall, Farrarmere Gardens Hall, the Actonville Community Centre and the Benoni Council Chambers, at the customer care centre, for functions.
