The Army Barracks at Natal Command’s site will be demolished after the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Council, Amafa gave the municipality the right to tear down the asbestos-riddled buildings.
However, Ros Deveraux says that the main block – known as the White House – as well as the walls on either side of it would remain intact. Also the chapel on the site would remain untouched.
Apparently Amafa had received a few objections from people but the majority of these objections related to a misconception that the old White House building was going to be demolished, which is clearly not the case.
The municipality wants to demolish the barracks so that it can complete the extension of Sylvester Ntuli (formerly Brickhill) Road from Argyle Road to Suncoast Boulevard. This project is due to be completed by June.
All the barracks at the Natal Command site will be demolished even though the road extension requires that only four of them need to come down. Specialist contractors will be used to demolish the buildings because of the risks associated with removing asbestos in the walls and roofs.
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