Cape Town’s war against problem buildings pays off

29 July 2015 - 22:10 By RDM News Wire
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Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. File photo
Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. File photo
Image: Sunday Times

The City of Cape Town had stymied the urban decay experienced by many inner-city central business districts thus “avoiding levels of urban degeneration before they reached a tipping point”‚ the city’s executive major‚ Patricia de Lille said on Wednesday.

Addressing a full council meeting‚ De Lille said the city’s Problem Building Unit‚ established to implement the Problem Building By-law promulgated in 2010 and to help the city identify‚ control and manage dilapidated and problem buildings‚ had helped Cape Town address more than 5‚000 problem buildings in five years.

Problem buildings are properties that contravene national building regulations; are overcrowded or in a deplorable state; are the subject of numerous complaints; or are the sites of criminal activity.

The by-law makes provision for offenders to be fined and to face penalties of up to R300‚000 or imprisoned for up to three years‚ or both.

“Once a building or property has been declared in terms of the by-law‚ a monthly tariff of R5‚000 is added to the rates and services account for the property. This tariff escalates over time to ensure that the errant owners are held accountable for the problems caused by their slum buildings.”

In 2014 the unit had closed 277 cases and racked up tariffs of more than R700‚000 against errant property owners.

The unit was currently investigating 1‚953 problem building complaints‚ with most of these cases involving privately owned properties.

RDM News Wire.

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