COURT GRANTS EVICTION OF MELGISEDEK OCCUPANTS, BRINGING AN END TO A 20 YEAR LEGACY OF URBAN DECAY

Cllr Kholofelo Morodi
MMC for Corporate and Shared Services at the Pretoria High Court photo supplied

By Cllr Kholofelo Morodi
MMC for Corporate and Shared Services

The City of Tshwane has secured a decisive victory for residents and urban renewal.

The Pretoria High Court has granted the eviction of all unlawful occupants from the fire-ravaged Melgisedek Building in Riviera, Pretoria.

The ruling clears the final legal obstacle and paves the way for demolition of this notorious hijacked structure that has plagued the area for two decades.

For more than 20 years, the Melgisedek Building situated directly opposite Steve Biko Academic Hospital has symbolised urban decay in Tshwane.

Declared structurally unsound and unfit for human habitation many years ago, it was hijacked and left to deteriorate into a dangerous hub of illegal occupation, vagrancy, criminal activity, drug dealing and life-threatening health hazards that endangered residents, hospital patients and the broader neighbourhood.

The recent devastating fire, which hospitalised four people, was the final intolerable chapter in this 20-year saga of neglect.

This court victory, secured through the determined efforts of the Bad Buildings Mayoral Sub-Committee and the City’s flagship Bad Buildings Programme, marks
the definitive end of this long-standing blight.

In line with the City’s humane and responsible approach, all affected occupants have already been identified and will be relocated to safe, alternative accommodation.

No one will be left without shelter.

Demolition will commence as soon as the eviction is executed, allowing the site to be cleared for future urban revitalisation that will benefit the entire area.