Macpherson tackles Durban’s dodgy buildings

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has intervened to tackle problem buildings in the eThekwini metro, including the Durban magistrate’s court, which requires a R249 million revamp, and two dilapidated high-rise apartment blocks that previously accommodated police officers.

Macpherson, who led three site visits by a delegation of senior public works and infrastructure officials, which was joined by local ward councillors, told the media, court managers and residents that he would get the process of fixing the three buildings started.

During the tour of the magistrate’s court, public works regional manager Nkosi Vilakazi said his department had prepared a detailed report highlighting the infrastructural problems facing the 48-year-old building which houses 43 courtrooms across 11 floors.

Acting regional court president Anand Maharaj instituted an inquiry after he was informed during a murder matter he was presiding over that the accused could not be moved from the ground floor because the designated lift was out of order.

Vilakazi said the report detailed the condition of the building, including problems created by the theft of copper pipes that had led to flooding; the broken fireline, which has been switched off since January 2023 making the building a fire hazard; the problematic lifts that are used to transport prisoners from the cells to court; insufficient security; a lack of CCTV cameras and a wood borer infestation. 

It highlighted the cost of repairs which were estimated to be around R249 million for a complete revamp.

“Because the building is 48 years old, you will have to inject money to revive it — some things can be replaced and some can be repaired,” Vilakazi said, adding that the department had taken steps to confront the problems in the short term, including hiring a contractor to maintain the lifts which, ultimately, needed to be replaced throughout the building at a cost of R19 million.

Macpherson said it was important to prioritise the most pressing problem in the building  hampering the delivery of justice — replacing the broken lifts transporting prisoners to court as well as the public lifts. He would raise the issue of funds to replace the lifts with his department’s chief financial officer.

Department of justice provincial manager Pat Moodley asked Macpherson whether it was possible to halt the construction of new court buildings in the country, and focus on fixing existing structures, and completing the Umlazi court where construction stopped in December 2023 after getting underway in 2015.   

Macpherson replied that he did not want to encroach onto the jurisdiction of the justice department but would alert the minister to these concerns.

“It is pretty evident to me there is an existential crisis in the operation of the court here and we have a commitment to deal with what is immediately in front of us and the two issues are the fire certification and the lifts,” he said.

“It has become a national issue now and is an issue that has been spoken about widely and it is something we need to deal with. I don’t think it is insurmountable to deal with … We, as a department, have said our goal is to use public assets for public good. And this is a public asset and it must be used in the pursuit of good — in this instance it is the dispensing of justice.

“We place a heavy burden and responsibility on magistrates and justices to dispense justice and so they have a right to work in suitable office space and courts … It is so important to have a functioning justice system and we must play our part,” Macpherson said.

During the site visits, delegates also inspected the high-rise apartment block Excelsior Court and the Stalwart Simelane Street Police Barracks, which were residences for officers.

Several local residents joined the delegation at Excelsior Court, where vagrants were last evicted from the building in 2018 in accordance with a court order. The building has been in a dilapidated state since around 2013.

Residents said at least 15 people, who they said were mostly criminals, had since moved into the flats and were using it as “a den of iniquity” and to prey on residents in the area.

“They come in here at night and move out during the day into the neighbourhood where they affect the whole area [with crime],” said one resident, who asked not to be named.

Another said her home had been repeatedly broken into over the past few months and the illegal occupiers of Excelsior had thrown bricks at a neighbouring block of flats.  

One resident said community members planned to remove the squatters themselves and were not confident that Macpherson’s intervention would achieve anything since they had long been complaining to the police, and had even written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, about the problem building.

“It’s a blight on your community, and I understand that, and the reason why we are here is we want to fix it. We want to get things done. I understand the community has taken action to secure the building themselves. We should not be imposing our responsibilities on you; it’s not your job to look after government buildings,” Macpherson responded.

“Number one I want the people who are living here to be evicted — if there is a court order in place we must enforce that court order. We must bring home affairs officials here and find out whether they are legal or not.”

Macpherson told residents that his senior officials had assured him the building would be secured within two weeks.