EThekwini Municipality mayor Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda led a tour of the Mahatma Gandhi Road precinct, which is receiving a major facelift as part of the public-private partnership with both sectors investing to transform the area into a safe and attractive zone for investment.
The tour took place on Friday, 21 May. Some of the work undertaken includes the extension of the promenade, the water-mains reticulation project, the public realm upgrade, and the success of the problem buildings programme. Mayor Kaunda said the Mahatma Gandhi precinct is a strategic location for development. “Work is currently underway to ensure that the precinct meets all these goals and gives the city’s economy a boost. Since we have started investing in the upgrade of the area, we have seen interest from investors.” Mayor Kaunda added that tackling problem buildings is on the city’s priority list. “A Problem Buildings Unit was established specifically to deal with the issue. There have been successes in the Mahatma Gandhi Precinct with 21 of the 33 profiled problem buildings under renovation,” he said.
The mayor added that other achievements include the demolition of three buildings, sealing and securing one municipal building, releasing two buildings to markets where transfers are currently underway and a commitment from five building owners to refurbish their buildings. “Moreover, there are currently legal proceedings underway regarding six buildings while the tracing of three building owners continues. As part of the rehabilitation of the buildings, some of which have been successfully converted into student accommodation, bars and bottle stores have been closed. This has positively contributed to the upliftment of the immediate surrounding areas,” he said. Deputy city manager for Economic Development Philip Sithole outlined projects taking place in the area.
“The R230 million Point Watermains project provides an upgrade and greater security of water supply for the inner city and for future planned growth. This project is still underway and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. It is estimated that the central business district will grow from 70 000 to 450 000 people and 250 000 work opportunities by the year 2040,” he said. “This infrastructure investment is a catalyst to the R30 billion Point Waterfront Development to be undertaken over the next 10 years. This will comprise a hotel, retail mall, offices as well as residential apartments and leisure. This will create a total of 17 500 jobs during construction and 11 000 jobs once operational. “To date, 1500 jobs have been created. The project will inject about R200 million to the City’s revenue annually. This is a perfect example of a successful public-private partnership,” said Sithole.
