Vandalism and theft, in the absence of government controls, have chosen the fate of a neglected state-owned building in Kuruman that, if looked after, could have been repurposed for office space but for which there is now no option other than demolition.

These were the findings of an oversight inspection conducted by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the old Kuruman traffic office building and ambulance station, following concerns raised by the public last week regarding dangerous medical supplies lying around.

While we assume that any medical supplies have since been removed, what we did find was a once potentially useful building, having gone to ruin.

Window frames, door frames, electricity cables and water pipes have been removed and tiles broken up. Some of the destruction is from vandalism, but some relates to the pure stripping of resources by community members, for their own construction purposes. See pics here, here, here, here and here.

Given that the gates to the facility have been allowed by the government to stand wide open, with zero access control to the empty building, the two-year breakdown of this facility comes as no surprise.

It is nonetheless a great pity, and an even greater waste of resources, especially given the sky-high costs of construction.

Even more so, considering that the Ga-Segonyana municipality, which now wants to approach the mines for funding to construct new offices, could have rather refurbished the now derelict building. The building could have accommodated a number of offices, is well situated in town and has ample parking. Instead, it must now go to waste.

It is increasingly coming to light that a number of unused state buildings across the province have been abandoned. The DA will report this facility to the MEC of Roads and Public Works and to the Premier, who previously promised that unused state buildings in the Northern Cape would be sold off.

Government must act now to either sell or secure state buildings that can still add value to the lives of residents, rather than simply letting them go to rot.

 

Issued by Braam van der Westhuizen, Cllr - Ga-Segonyana municipality