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2010-03-18:City opts to acquire Chancellor House    

The City of Johannesburg has decided to acquire and redevelop Chancellor House in the interest of the public. 

The building will not be demolished but will be restored to an office building in keeping with its history. Its basic structure will be retained and the offices used inter alia for legal services, to be provided either by the City or by non-profit legal organizations. 

Ms Lael Bethlehem chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) says, “The area which housed the legal offices of former president Nelson Mandela and the late Oliver Tambo in the 1950’s will be restored and an exhibit created that will be open to the public to commemorate the historical significance of those offices”. 

Continuing she says, “The City has made a decision to expropriate the building because the City and the owners have unfortunately not been able to negotiate the purchase and sale of Chancellor House”. 

She said the expropriation of the building will comply with legislation and a market-related consideration offered to the owner. In addition the City both directly and in co-operation with the Johannesburg Heritage Trust, has attempted to buy the building from its owners in order to redevelop it. 

The owners have neither been willing to sell and nor take any action to address the terrible conditions of both the building itself as well as those of the occupants who are homeless people. The building is not only dilapidated but in a state of chaos, previously having been damaged by fire. It is definitely not designed for residential use.

“For a building of such historic importance, the situation is reprehensible and this shows rampant disrespect for the history of the building as well as the City’s by-laws”, says Ms Bethlehem. 

According to Ms Bethlehem the City has made attempts to encourage the owners to address the concerns and even served several notices to them in terms of the City’s by-laws. 

The City recently intervened more directly when it obtained an order in the Johannesburg High Court in December 2009 for the eviction of the building’s occupants so that the City is able to honour its obligations in terms of health, safety and fire legislation as well as its own by-laws.

In terms of the court order the current occupants will be moved out of the building and offered accommodation in a City owned emergency shelter.



Ends 

“Joburg, a City where community development, personal growth and social mobility are enhanced so that challenges of poverty, vulnerability, inequality and social exclusion are fundamentally addressed”.

Issued by 
Virgil James
Communications Specialist
City of Joburg
011 407 7226
082 467 9415​