RESPECTED Durban infectious disease epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim has joined the battle to have the ‘monstrous’ building at 317 Currie Road demolished.
Karim, who lives in a block of flats to the rear of the notorious building, has joined civic organisation Save Our Berea in its court application, and has submitted an affidavit to the Durban High Court.
Speaking to Berea Mail, Cheryl Johnson and Kevin Dunkley from Save our Berea said they had signed a 500-page affidavit in September which was submitted to the court in an application to review and set aside the rezoning and town planning approval given by the eThekwini Municipality.
Following a court battle in 2015, an order was granted by the high court to have the building demolished. This, however, was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal when the case was taken to the court by former developers, Serengeti Rise.
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When the developers went into liquidation, the property was put up for auction in August 2020. Save Our Berea issued an urgent application in the Durban High Court to stop the auction of the building, however the court ruled that the organisation had no legal standing to stop the sale. The pending litigation case on the building by Save Our Berea was blamed for the low auction price bid on the development.
Johnson said Karim had been watching this development and had noted the ongoing case against this development since 2014. He purchased his apartment, which is on the eighth floor of a block in Musgrave Road behind 317 Currie Road, in August 2017, at a time when the development at 317 Currie Road had remained at the height of seven storeys for three years, with no further work being done.
“Since the auction, construction has once again started on the development and now that two floors have been added, making it nine storeys high, it directly affects him. He made an attempt to contact me to discuss the issue, and Pops (Advocate Tayob Aboobaker) met up with him. He was happy to get involved in our case and add his name to the battle,” said Johnson.
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In his affidavit which was submitted last month, Karim notes that it had become clear that the development would have a substantial and direct impact on his property and views. He said he had been informed that the litigation had been stalled because the municipality had not provided the record of decision, had not given the applicants access to vital witnesses who would provide important evidence of the unlawfulness of the development, and had withheld the City Investigation and Integrity Unit report at the appeal hearing.
He said he had read Save Our Berea’s application and was satisfied that there was substantial evidence of irregularity in the rezoning approval for the development.
He said apart from being personally affected, he had over many years taken a firm stance against maladministration and corruption and would do everything in his power to expose it. “The spectre of corruption looms large over the 317 development and I believe that it is necessary that citizens take a stance against maladministration such as town planning abuse,” he stated in the affidavit.
ALSO READ: The ongoing saga of 317 Currie Road
Aboobaker has also launched a similar application to join the proceedings. He had withdrawn from the matter because it had become too personal, however he now feels he is able to assist the court with the outcome of his own investigations. “Amafa has given an affidavit confirming the original house on the property, built in 1917, was demolished without an Amafa permit, so from step one, the development was illegal. Also, the failure to disclose the investigation report from the City Investigation and Integrity Unit into the development was unconscionable. Had the report been disclosed, the unfortunate result of the appeal in the supreme court could have been avoided,” he said.
Aboobaker said the applicants seek to compel the municipality to enforce its public law obligations to demolish a development which he states is “manifestly illegal and in conflict with the National Building Regulations.”
Johnson and Dunkley said the next step would be to hear if the court accepts the application and gives a date. They said a date in April had been requested.
“This is a real David and Goliath case. We have said for six years that unless residents become activists, put their hands up to do something about issues in the community, nothing will get done. We urge residents to not give up, to keep pushing and every now and then they will win small battles. We need the kind of people who will take things forward, to keep eating away and putting pressure on the City to do the right thing. We don’t know who it was that leaked that report, but we need whistleblowers like this who stand for what’s right,” said Johnson.
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