MEC Martin Meyer discusses the safety concerns and humanitarian responsibilities surrounding the occupation of the condemned building.
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KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Public Works and Infrastructure, Martin Meyer, is navigating a precarious humanitarian and legal dilemma after approximately 1,600 foreign nationals sought refuge in a condemned provincial building in Pietermaritzburg.
While Meyer remains firm that the structure is illegally occupied and poses significant safety risks, he has ruled out an immediate eviction, citing a moral duty to protect vulnerable individuals from exposure in the freezing winter conditions and fears of violence.
The occupation began following a protest in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, including the reported death of a foreign national. Driven by fear of further unrest, hundreds of individuals began seeking temporary refuge in an abandoned, condemned provincial building starting on Saturday morning to escape the growing hostility in the area.
Despite security presence, the building was overwhelmed by individuals who breached the gates, with over 150 people entering before the SAPS arrived.
MEC Meyer highlighted that the abandoned building is hazardous for the 1,600 occupants, citing its poor structural integrity, fire risks, and the complete lack of essential utilities like water, electricity, and adequate sanitation.
“At the rate of influx, the two-storey building is already beyond capacity, and any more people arriving would put a lot of strain on it.”
He said there are also health concerns for the occupants and a risk to nearby properties.
“I must state that all these concerns were communicated to the Malawian nationals in the building. They were warned that the building is not safe.”
He said they looked at department properties, but they did not have any suitable open land that could have worked. Therefore, he thanked Msunduzi for making land available, and a temporary facility will be set up, allowing for the movement of the occupants from the unsafe building, because the safety of the Malawian nationals remains a concern.
“As KZN Public Works and Infrastructure, we must put it on record that this building remains illegally occupied, without our consent, and that we continue to seek legal counsel on the matter, since any unfortunate incident, be it injury or death, the department will be held legally accountable for it. However, we realise that this is a humanitarian crisis, and that we must strike a balance,” Meyer explained.
“Because this is a humanitarian crisis, we have made the decision not to seek legal eviction at this time, while the option remains open for us, but because of our responsibility in a humanitarian crisis, we will allow the foreign nationals to remain in the building while the other site is being prepared and they are moved there.
“So we are not seeking any legal eviction at this time, whilst we do have to stress the fact that this building remains illegally occupied. We definitely did not give them permission to use the building.”
Meyer said the decision to delay eviction was made on humanitarian grounds, considering the freezing weather and fear of violence. However, authorities reserve the right to enforce eviction if the property is not vacated once alternative accommodation is available.
However, he said he subscribes to the views of both the provincial government and the political party that he is part of that South Africa is a country of the rule of law; that people who are in the country illegally need to be deported following legal measures back to their own country; that South Africans should not take the law into their own hands but allow these processes to play out.
“While we agree that if any of the people that’s in that building currently are undocumented foreign nationals, then of course they must be expropriated to their own country. And we will do everything that’s required of us to assist with that,” Meyer said.
“But again, we’ve made it clear from the start. This is no long-term or even a medium-term solution. For us, this is a short-term solution, and we will continue to do everything in our power to make sure that the building is empty this week. This is definitely not going to be anything that goes beyond this week.”
Meyer said that once the building is vacated, they will brick up all entrances and lock the site to prevent further access.