Excelsior Court decay worsens

LITTLE to no progress has been made at the contentious Excelsior Court in Berea.

The condemned building, owned by the Department of Public Works and originally a residence for members of the police force, continues to decay and is inhabited by people who are not members of SAPS.

The ongoing noise and filth that surrounds the property has become a public eyesore and nuisance to surrounding residents who say the noise from loud music and parties held all hours of the day and night had become unbearable.

A clean-up of the area around the building was organised at the beginning of September by residents and the ward councillor Charmaine Clayton, but Clayton says this is a problem that clean-ups can’t solve.

“People are not using black bags to discard of their litter and DSW won’t pick this up. In the clean-up, loads of rubbish, even soiled nappies were found thrown down the bank into the bush below the property. Unfortunately the Parks Department won’t cut back the overgrowth because it is not municipal property, but owned by the Department of Public Works,” said Clayton.

On a visit to the site with Clayton last week, the degradation of the building, which was condemned by the Health Department and Fire Department years ago, was evident.

Water pours from an upstairs pipe onto the ground, a leaking pipe spews water into one of the garages while other garages are filled with litter. Garage doors have been broken and an open electrical box is easily accessible and poses a danger to a number of children who live in the building and play on the property.

Clayton expressed concerns for the water wastage and undertook to contact the Water Department to have the leak fixed.

Neighbouring resident, Brian Robb, a professional architect, said the water had been running down the building for almost 10 years.

He said as soon as it was fixed, it would be broken again.

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“This building is condemned. It fails totally in regards to fire and safety but because it is a Public Works building, nothing can be done to have people living in the flats evicted. A handful of them are police, however the others are not. There is no law and no control regarding who can enter this building as there are no doors to keep anyone out. The behaviour of the residents is abominable. They party, smash bottles and I was physically attacked when I went to ask them to be quiet. As residents we are helpless. We call Metro and if they come out, it is quiet for a while and then starts again,” he said.

Robb said children were at risk as they played in areas where sewage mixed with the water flowing onto the ground outside the building.

“This, on top of all the rubbish lying around the property, poses a health risk,” he said, adding that the matter had been reported to the authorities.

Residents living in neighbouring properties said they had heard many promises over the years, but nothing had come of them.

They said last year they had been told a court order to have people living in the building evicted had been applied for but a representative from the Public Works Department had failed to go to court and the eviction order fell through.

Councillor Clayton said the situation was extremely serious and needed urgent attention.

“Former councillor Chris Pappas has been instrumental in trying to have some movement on this building for the past few years and took it to court. Now he has taken this as far as contacting Minister Patricia De Lille, head of Public Works. We need her to come here urgently.”

Escalating the issue

Commenting on the issue, Pappas said residents and councillors had tried for years to address the problems at the building but there has been little to no help from National and Provincial government, both SAPS and Public Works.

“The building has been featured in many news articles as well as on Carte Blanche, but government has not acted on any of the complaints or reports from local government departments on the safety of the building. City authorities are reluctant to get involved because it is a government property and Metro Police do not attend to complaints here because it would put them up against their SAPS counterparts who apparently live in the building. I have written to Minister De Lille as one of our final options. After being let down by the system we are now hoping that the old adage of ‘a new broom sweeps clean’ will assist us in resolving this issue.”

Pappas said he has not yet received feedback, however he will wait until January for a response.

He said if he has no further feedback, he will then raise the issue with De Lille in parliament or the National Council of Provinces.