The despicable eyesore called Westpoint Lodge on the Esplanade, Durban, is a fitting example of bureaucratic paralysis (The Mercury, September 7).
Its illegal occupation breaks bylaws, which would see legal property owners prosecuted, yet for more than 10 years, those breaches have been tolerated. Westpoint violates laws on health issues, fire risk and prevention, electricity usage, rates collection, and structural safety. At the same time, it is a haven for drug trafficking and organized crime.
Excuses about untraceable owners and deceased estates holding up decisive action surely must have a statute of limitations. How does the eThekwini bureaucracy justify the loss of rates collection not only from Westpoint but also the negative effect Westpoint has on the rateable values of the adjacent properties?
Then there is the excuse that unless alternative accommodation can be found, Westpoint’s illegal occupants cannot be evicted. Oddly enough, when the illegal occupants of Albert Park were cleared out, no such provision was made. Instead, they gravitated to Moore Rd, where their presence is having a negative effect on rateable properties there.
The failure of the eThekwini authorities to have taken decisive action years ago by having Westpoint demolished raises questions as to what extent rates collection, health and safety issues have priority status. As such, Westpoint’s continued existence provides a legal precedent that illegal occupants of other buildings could use in their defence.
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