Law protects buildings over 60 years old
"Buildings worthy of conservation would not be allowed to be demolished even if the owners have deliberately neglected them in order to obtain demolition permits."
THE KwaZulu-Natal provincial heritage conservation agency, Amafa Heritage KwaZulu Natali, says the aim of the legislation protecting buildings over 60 years of age is to assess buildings for their heritage value and not to prevent development.
If the buildings are assessed to have no heritage value, permission would be granted for their demolition and the redevelopment of the sites.
However, the agency said “buildings worthy of conservation would not be allowed to be demolished even if the owners have deliberately neglected them in order to obtain demolition permits. Demolition through neglect is not condoned. In these cases Amafa would still consider development around the heritage buildings provided that this is allowed within the Town Planning Scheme.”
According to Annie Radford, the Deputy Director for Research and Professional Services, the agency does not have a database of buildings over 60 years of age that have not been identified as heritage sites. We have a list of buildings of local heritage importance that was compiled for the former Durban Municipality i.e. Durban Central.
“All buildings over 60 years of age are protected but when applications are made to demolish, alter or add to these buildings they are assessed for their heritage value. Not all buildings over 60 years of age are worthy of conservation and permission would be granted if they are assessed to have no conservation worthiness. Permission may be denied if the buildings are assessed to have high heritage value,” she said.
“We also have a list for Queensburgh and some areas in the eThekwini North and South areas. The list of identified sites is available through the City Engineer’s Department at Town Planning and City Architects. The list of buildings that were protected as “National Monuments” now called Heritage Landmarks is contained in a schedule on the Amafa website www.heritagekzn.co.za. Most of the old greater Durban area, including some townships were built before 1957 and are now over 60 years of age and would automatically require Amafa approval for any work on the sites,” added Radford.
