EThekwini City Manager, Sipho Nzuza, invites members of the media on a tour to inspect old buildings that will soon be crushed by bulldozers to make way for new development projects.

 

There are approximately 80 bad buildings within the inner city, of which 39 buildings are within the Mahatma Gandhi Precinct, and the City has been given a green light by courts to start demolishing some while court processes on others are underway. Bad buildings have been plaguing the City for quite some time by becoming drug dens, brothels and homes for vagrants to the detriment of residents. The City is committed to working with the private sector in eradicating bad buildings for purposes such as commercial, student accommodation, social housing, and social facilities required to address the above mentioned social ills. Owners of bad buildings who have gone under the radar neglecting them at the expense of the Municipality are warned to come forward or risk losing their property.

 

Nzuza will start the tour by visiting multi-billion mega projects that will completely alter the City’s skyline. His first stop will be the Rivertown Development Precinct where contractors have already commenced with construction work, an indication that the City means business.

 

Rivertown is going to be home to among others restaurants and art galleries and is expected to revolutionarise the City’s night life dramatically.

 

The City Manager is also going to make a ground-breaking announcement on comprehensive plans to keep the streets of Durban clean on a scale that has never been seen before. He will also unpack strategies to deal with homelessness that has become synonymous with the metro.

 

The tour will culminate in the signing of a memorandum of understanding with a developer due to construct a multi-million shopping mall.

 

Members of the media are cordially invited to attend and transport will be made available for the tour. Details are as follows:

 

MEETING POINT: Moses Mabhida Stadium

TIME: 09h00

DATE: 11 July 2019

 

ENDS

 

Issued by the eThekwini Municipality’s Communications Unit. For media enquiries contact Msawakhe Mayisela on 060 966 4220