Chairperson of the Trading Services Committee Councillor Mdu Nkosi, CEO of Enza Construction Clinton Crowie, MEC of Public Works and Infrastructure Martin Meyer, and eThekwini Deputy Mayor Councillor Zandile Myeni at the sod turning ceremony of the Esplanade Government Building.

THE multi-million-rand Inner City Building Project will soon turn the Esplanade Government Building into a self-sustaining structure. This was revealed by KwaZulu-Natal MEC of Public Works and Infrastructure Martin Meyer. The sod turning ceremony was held at the building on 25 November and signified the work being done to restore dilapidated and hijacked buildings that have sat unused for many years.

The Esplanade Government Building, once revamped, will house government departments. MEC Meyer said the department is moving to proactively ensure the ongoing maintenance of buildings to ensure they don’t suffer the same fate as the Esplanade Government Building. “We are committed to cutting back on leases paid by government departments to curb employees working in hired office spaces. We will own and maintain the building so that we can divert those costly rentals to other areas of priority. The department will not own assets that we do not need because they are a deficit of about R1.7 billion rand a year, which is unsustainable for government to pay. We will sell some of the buildings if the need arises,” he added.

MEC Meyer said once the building is completed, it will boast environmentally friendly interventions where the lifts regenerate energy back into the building. It will also have PV panels on the roof and will harvest rainwater. Chief Executive Officer of Enza Construction Clinton Crowie said the project will start towards the end of 2025 and be completed at the end of 2027. The design development period will start at the beginning of 2025 and last for between six to seven months. EThekwini Deputy Mayor Councillor Zandile Myeni said they are pleased to see the fruits of the memorandum of understanding signed between the City and the national and provincial Departments of Public Works. “A part of our commitment to eradicate bad buildings, teams have identified 76 buildings which are derelict, abandoned, hijacked, and overcrowded. Of these, 58 are privately owned and 18 are government-owned buildings,” said Deputy Mayor Myeni. She said the City is working with relevant government departments and state-owned enterprises to ensure these buildings are turned around and utilised.