The biggest property owner in South Africa, the national Public Works and Infrastructure Department, is turning to the private sector to help rejuvenate at least 16 state-owned properties in the eThekwini metropole that have fallen into disrepair.

Moneyweb reports that public works minister, Dean McPherson, will soon publish a request for proposals on how to revive the neglected buildings, one of them being the historic Seamen’s Institute Building, which was built around 1900.

McPherson hopes to replicate the eThekwini initiative across the country.

According to a News24 report, about 200 of the buildings the department owns countrywide have been hijacked, while about 10 000 are not even used.

‘The days of state buildings standing empty, attracting crime to communities and chasing away investment is coming to an end,’ Macpherson said in Durban recently at the signing of an MoU with eThekwini officials. ‘The days of the state hanging onto properties it doesn’t need – or is unable to maintain – is coming to an end.’

12 November 2024
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