Fire in Durban CBD ‘could be worse than the one in Joburg’
|Published
File picture of a building fire in the Durban CBD File picture of a building fire in the Durban CBD where children attending a crèche and workers were trapped for hours. Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency(ANA)
Durban - As the City of Joburg reels from a devastating building fire that claimed more than 70 lives, the eThekwini Municipality has been warned that some of the buildings in the city centre are being “misused” and are primed for a similar fate.
City councillors and officials warned that buildings in the CBD, Umgeni Road and other areas are disasters waiting to happen. They say a major problem with these buildings is the illegal change of use to accommodation, with people packed in to increase rentals.
An official who is aware of the City’s struggles in dealing with derelict buildings said a building in Umgeni Road and one in Alexander Road were disasters waiting to happen.
“There are cubicles inside the building (being rented out to desperate tenants), and these are partitioned with wood,” said the official. “Any building is a risk when there is a fire, but the risk is even greater if the building is hijacked or turned into illegal accommodation.
“The City definitely has its problems, and if there is a fire, people cannot get out of the building.”
A few years ago, The Mercury joined the City on a night raid where reporters saw first-hand the extent of this problem. One building meant for industrial use had been converted into a residential property and contained cubicle after cubicle with little or no ventilation or proper lighting, and no exit signs.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the City had identified 88 problem buildings in its database, although this number was “not static as buildings are inspected continuously and subsequently removed once success has been declared”.
The City had intervened in 23 “hijacked buildings where owners have gained control through problem building intervention”.
“According to the bad buildings by-law in eThekwini, with regard to hijacked buildings, the property owner will be placed on terms and required to evacuate the building, secure and/or seal the property against any unauthorised re-entry of any persons, and to remedy and turn around the problem building.”
Sisilana said that should the owner not comply with the conditions or orders imposed, a court order would be sought for evacuation, demolition and/ or remediation by the owner, failing which the municipality would carry out such works and recover the costs from the owner.
“Should the building be deemed a danger to life and property and/or be dilapidated, and the owner fails to comply with the conditions or orders imposed, the PBD (Problem Building Division) may carry out the required remedial works in order to remove the dangerous situation or dilapidation and recover the cost from the owner,” Sisilana said.
In a City podcast called eThekwini Matters, Phakade Mchunu from fire and emergency services spoke about concerns over the misuse of buildings.
“Here in the CBD we have a serious challenge of buildings, which many years ago were used for specific purposes and suddenly as the years go by that building is used for something else. These buildings are converted illegally to be used for accommodation.”
He said it was important for the City to continue enforcing its by-laws, and that if there was no enforcement, a safe building immediately became unsafe.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said a tragedy in Durban could be even bigger than the one experienced in Johannesburg.
“The municipality needs to raid these buildings and move out everyone living there. We need to know who is staying in which building.”
Nkosi said the current state of these buildings meant they were a haven for crime.
DA councillor Sharmaine Sewshanker described the CBD as “a disaster waiting to happen”.
“Many buildings in the CBD are not regulated and landlords are not in compliance with the safety regulations.”
ActionSA councillor Alan Beesley said many buildings in the CBD had been hijacked, and with the illegal occupation of these buildings, safety standards had been totally disregarded.
“The living environment in these buildings is simply unacceptable. It is imperative that these hijacked buildings get the immediate attention of the mayor and the leadership of the municipality in order to ensure what happened in Johannesburg is not repeated.”