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Today the Department of Public Works will demolish two buildings, namely Manie Maritz Hof and Wessel Pretorius Hof at Thaba Tshwane in Pretoria.

The Demolition should be seen within the overall policy of the Department to dispose of any immovable assets, which do not add value any more to the functioning of the state.

In the case of the two buildings concerned, both were built in 1973 and progressive degradation, compounded by feeble structures, has led to their being declared unsafe. They had both been evacuated since 1996.

In 1997, we appointed consultants to ascertain primary cause of degradation as well as the cost of repairing these structures.

In short, the recommendation was that the structures are unsafe in their present conditions. The cost of remedial work coupled to the costs of all other remedial work to finishes and services, to rehabilitate these buildings, would be astronomical and uneconomical in the context of the amount of accommodation they provide.

We concluded that the buildings have outlived their useful economic lifespan and to prevent further financial drain to the government and the taxpayer, a decision was taken to terminate their life span.

The demolition method was carefully selected given that there could be inherent and unknown defaults in these structures. It was finally decided to implode the buildings, as opposed to mechanical demolition, which might expose contractors, neighbouring residents as well as Departmental officials to unacceptable risk/s.

A 24-hour staggered but intensive preparation period has been declared to verify safety features before the demolition. These would include:

• Verification of installation and safety of detonators
  
• Covering air-intakes of adjacent properties to prevent dust penetration
  
• Cordoning off of the area from the general public in coordination with the Police and Fire Departments.
  
• A full emergency plan will be established with the emergency wards of Number One Military Hospital & Eugene Marais Hospital on standby.
  
• Both Tshwane Metro Police, SAPS and Fire Departments will be on standby, including medical doctors and related staff.

Immediately following the implosion, the streets and sidewalks will be cleaned mechanically and by hand. All air-intakes of adjoining buildings will also be opened.

The bulk of the implosion debris will be removed on 12-hour shift from 01 March 2004 until end of the month.

The National Department of Public Works remains one of the largest clients of the Tswane Metropolitan. On average, the DPW invests the following with Municipality:

• R195 million per annum on municipal services (water, electricity, refuse and others)
  
• R65 million per annum on rates and taxes for government properties
  
• R400 million in rental for 210 office blocks and other facilities leased from the private sector
  
• All in all, the DPW manages in excess of 2900 properties in the Municipality area.

Issued by: Department of Public Works
29 February 2004