Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has every intention to maintain and restore its Blesbok and Bosbok flats in Arcadia.
Tshwane mayoral spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said the City had not abandoned the buildings, as claimed by the tenants. He said the maintenance issue that was reported was being attended to following investigations carried out on Monday.
“We would like to acknowledge that there is major maintenance that needs to be addressed, such as the ongoing water leakages and power failures due to the aged plumbing system.
“The City is transferring the buildings to Housing Company Tshwane, which has access to funds from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority and the Gauteng Partnership Fund that could be used to address the major maintenance issues and upgrade the building.
“This process is at an advanced stage,” said Stuurman.
The residents of the two buildings had said they witnessed the structures deteriorating in the past decade to a point that it no longer made sense to pay for rates and services.
The lifts in the buildings had broken down, windows were missing, walls were decaying, electric wiring had been ripped out and there were no lights. Water was leaking from the walls and roofs.
The residents said they felt that the City had abandoned the buildings and stopped entertaining requests for maintenance. This was even after they were forced to live with a pipe leaking clean water from the roof of Blesbok for a year.
Tenant Hansie Pretorius said tenants who had stopped paying rates due to the breakdown were willing to resume paying if the City was going to maintain the buildings and ensure people lived with dignity.
“At the moment these buildings look abandoned. People are living in apartments where water is consistently leaking from the ceiling on to their furniture.
“The walls have pipes leaking and this is damaging the structure. Even officials from the fire department said these buildings were not safe for living any more.
“If you look at the fire escape stairs you will be terrified. The lifts are not just dead, components have been ripped off from them.
“The mailbox looks like it survived an explosion. That is why some people stopped paying, because really what are they paying for?”
Stuurman said the City was pleading with the tenants to pay their rent and co-operate so that the “minor maintenance and long-term upgrade” could be expedited.
Pretoria News