“The Benoni Town Hall has been closed because it needs to be refurbished,” said Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) spokesperson, Themba Gadebe.
READ:
Benoni City Hall should reopen next year
“The City of Ekurhuleni’s (CoE) Real Estate Department is facilitating the refurbishment.
“In its current state, the building is identified as an occupational health and safety risk.”
Ward 73 councillor Sinethemba Matiwane said he is putting pressure on the relevant departments for the hall to be fixed.
“I have been asking when the hall will be refurbished, but I have not received a response as yet,” he said.
Gadebe added that the CoE has a responsibility towards the building.
“In terms of current heritage legislation, CoE is obliged to maintain and preserve the building and its future use will have to be decided on once the renovations are done,” Gadebe said.
“Currently there is no approved budget for the refurbishment of the building.
“The budget request will be submitted for consideration during the council’s next budget cycle.”
In April 2016, the City Times was told that the Town Hall would re-open in July this year at an estimate cost of R46-million.
In October of 2016, the City Times was told that the city’s real estate department was still in the process of ‘reordering the projects’ with other internal departments.
Several residents voiced their concerns about the building remaining closed in previous articles by the City Times, Lebohang Pheko said: “It’s a waste of public utilities. It could be used for public events. It was used for workshops and the like before.”
Rod Scheepers said: “It’s shocking; all the amateur drama societies that used the hall can’t do so now. It should have been fixed long ago.”
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