THE City has begun demolishing three bad buildings in Durban’s South Beach area.
The move comes as the eThekwini Municipality announced that it aims to rid the city of dilapidated buildings which they claim have become drug dens and brothels.
Demolition began this morning at the dilapidated, Trafalgar Place on Rutherford Road off Mahatma Gandhi Road.
Speaking on the site, city manager, Sipho Nzuza said they wanted to ‘rejuvenate and regenerate’ Durban’s Point area.
“Part of that has been looking at the areas. So we are gathering here to show that we are now starting the process. There are three buildings that are going to be taken down as part of the start of the rejuvenation project. We are going to build new buildings that are going to be used for residential purposes, ” he said.
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The inner city regeneration is aimed at attracting and retaining investment, creating jobs and attracting people to live in the area. The 750 metre promenade extension due to open to the public in November this year is 80 per cent complete.
Once this is accomplished the City said private sector investment in the Point Waterfront Development would be launched which includes a retail mall and residential apartments for the area. This will see a developer investment of R2.8 billion and an annual rates contribution of R200 million.
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Deputy Mayor, Fawzia Peer said the demolition process was being delayed by property owners who would not get on board with the project.
“There are lots of property owners that we can’t find and as a result, buildings become more and more derelict . They are so bad and crime is also increasing and property owners are not taking an interest. We are at the helm of the constitutional rights and property law,” she added.
Deputy City Manager, Philip Sithole said there are there are 99 buildings in the inner city and 33 of these have been earmarked for demolition.
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