The City of Cape Town has stepped up its efforts to compel the owners of derelict buildings to clean up their properties.

There were "about a dozen buildings" where a notice had been served or a court summons issued for failure to comply with the terms of a notice.

A prime focus is a Sea Point building belonging to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

On December 22 the City obtained a High Court order ordering the SABC to repair, clean and repaint the building known as Rocklands Villas, situated behind the SABC Building in Beach Road, Sea Point, within two months.

City director of planning and building development management, Cheryl Walters, said the order came at a time when several notices served on the SABC had been ignored.

"We view this (the court order) as a major step forward in dealing with problem buildings across the city," said Walters.

She said the action had been taken in terms of the existing City of Cape Town Building by-law.

City head of building development management, Peter Henshall-Howard, said his department was compiling a list of buildings which could potentially be classified as dilapidated.

But Henshall-Howard said the list was still at the preliminary stage and would not divulge additional information. He said this might inform property owners that the City was preparing to serve a notice on them.

He said once identified, the City served a notice in terms of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act (No. 103 of 1977) or the City's building by-law.

If there was non-compliance with the terms of the notice, a summons to appear before a magistrate's court was served, although in some instances civil action through the High Court could be taken.

According to information provided by the City's communication department, the court order in the SABC case required that the SABC prevent any further occupation of the building. If the SABC failed to comply with the terms of the order, the Court had authorised the Sheriff to undertake the repair, cleaning and repainting of the buildings and to recover the costs from the SABC.

SABC Western Cape regional general manager, Nomfundo Mpuntsha, confirmed knowledge of the order.

Mpuntsha said the SABC was in need of money and had agreed to dispose of the building.

She said the Western Cape SABC had recommended to their head office in Auckland Park in Johannesburg that the building be auctioned.

She said the building, which comprised seven villas, was estimated to be worth about R5m.

But mayoral committee member for safety and security, Jean Pierre Smith, while welcoming the High Court order, lambasted the SABC, saying that the state broadcaster had been saying they would dispose of the building for the last eight years.

"They have been making that excuse since eight years ago. Now they need to make a new excuse or do something," he said. – Peter Luhanga, West Cape News

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