WATCH: Former Police flats left in state of squalor

THE Excelsior Court building on Peter Mokaba Road, once a residence for members of the SAPS, was recently overrun by homeless members of the community. The SAPS was able to evacuate the flats, however, the building has been left in a state of complete squalor.

The condemned building is owned by the Department of Public Works. The building is contaminated by mounds of filth, and the property has become an eyesore. Inside the flats, every electrical source, toilet, and the apartment has been stripped of any valuable metals. Ward 31 Councillor Remona Mckenzie said the vagrants did not leave the building alone until they were able to strip it in totality. “The unpleasant behaviour started when all illegal occupants were evicted out of this building in April. It has been a nightmare for the residents. They didn’t even seem afraid of the police because as soon as the police left, they were back in the building, causing chaos,” said Mckenzie.

ALSO READ: Are you ready to be a landlord?

The ward councillor said she was appalled when she saw the current state of the Excelsior Court building after it had been completely raided. “When I went into the building, it was shocking to see its state. It has been vandalised from top to bottom. Lift doors were taken and taps were removed. Huge holes were made in the walls to get to the copper pipes, toilets were smashed and broken, and giant rodents ran out of the building. It is horrific.”

“Excelsior Court is going to need to do more than just paint to fix the damage. They’ll also have to completely rewire the building, install new pipes, geysers, a lift, toilets, and windows,” she said.

Berea Mail journalist, Nia Louw, took a walk through the flats to explore the extent of the building’s decay.

Watch here:

ALSO READ: Durban ravaged by May floods

The future of Excelsior Court

According to Mckenzie, the Department of Public Works is not going to be able to ‘quickly renovate’ Excelsior Court as it has been completely stripped.

She labels the building as a ‘health hazard’ and says she is appealing to the department to arrange an Operation Clean-Up so that residents are no longer subjected to living in its vicinity.

At the start of this month, Mckenzie reached out to the SAPS to assist with guarding the building against returning vagrants. “SAPS is aware of what is happening. I would like to thank General Kheswa who contacted me, took the time to listen to my concerns as the councillor, and agreed to implement a plan of action on such short notice,” she said.

On May 1, 2022, members were deployed from the Public Order Police (POP) to look after the building. They have been working on a rotational shift, and since they have been present, residents feel safer and are at peace without noise disturbance.

There are many speculations about what this building will be used for in the future.

“The process should be transparent, and a public meeting with the department should take place that will address the concerns of the residents,” said Mckenzie.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.        Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Berea community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts. Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.