DA pleased with city’s steps to deal with derelict buildings in eThekwini

THE Democratic Alliance (DA) in eThekwini has welcomed a statement issued by city manager, Sipho Nzuza last week, stating that the city will be demolishing some of the 80 identified derelict buildings within the inner city, after having obtained consent from the courts.

According to the DA, this follows calls by the party in April for the city manager, as the head of administration, to take action and enforce the city’s problem buildings by-law which has not been adequately enforced three years since its promulgation.

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“The crisis was brought to the forefront when questions posed by the DA in council in 2017 revealed that the city has been using iTrump (Inner eThekwini Regeneration and Urban Management Programme) to address the issue of problem buildings. This despite the fact that iTrump struggles with human resources capacity. The constraints in iTrump mean that it is unable to assist outlying areas affected by problem buildings,” said DA eThekwini Economic Development and Planning Committee Whip, Cllr Marlaine Nair.

“The city has a large number of derelict buildings which have become hideouts for criminals and criminal activity. This has made our neighbourhoods unsafe and has also lead to property devaluation.

“Our concern is that the city is only tackling derelict buildings in the inner-city, while there is practically no enforcement in residential areas where the real effects of having these derelict buildings are felt. Residents are tired of begging the city for proper service delivery,” said Nair.

The DA, therefore, calls on city manager Sipho Nzuza to urgently take steps to ensure the enforcement of the by-law in its entirety.

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