A multimillion-rand grandiose museum built in Tshwane in honour of women for their contribution in the liberation struggle has been declared a fire hazard for failure to comply with safety standards.
As a result, the City of Tshwane has declined issuing a certificate of occupancy to the R280m Women's Living Heritage Monument in the Pretoria inner-city after the city's fire department found that it has no adequate fire combating systems.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the city had not issued an occupancy certificate because there were still outstanding documentation it required from Gauteng province. He said amended plans have been submitted yet for the deviations from those approved for the structure.
Mashigo also said the city required engineering certificates from the provincial government for the building’s foundation, slabs and roof and that there was no fire clearance certificate for the building.
“Once all of these are acquired, the province can arrange for the final inspection with the City. The City remains committed to working with the province on the outstanding compliance issues," he said.
The heritage site, which was launched with much fanfare in 2016 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Women's March to the Union Buildings, has stood empty without ever since due to the noncompliance issues raised by the City of Tshwane.
This is not the first multimillion-rand project undertaken by the Gauteng department of infrastructure development to have been found with defects and flaws related to compliance with standards and safety.
Two schools in Johannesburg, Nokuthula Special School in Lyndhurst, near Alexandra, and the Mayibuye Primary School in Midrand were also found to have been built in contravention of regulations and buildings' standards.
In 2018, a month before the Bank of Lisbon building in Johannesburg caught fire, eight government-owned buildings were found to be noncompliant in terms of the Occupational Health Safety (OHS) regulations. The Lisbon building fire destroyed several storeys of the 24-floor property and led to the death of three Johannesburg Emergency Services firefighters who were fighting the blaze.
Gauteng infrastructure development MEC Tasneem Motara told Sowetan yesterday that the issues raised by the Tshwane fire department were being attended to.
"We are finalising what the Tshwane fire department wanted us to address," Motara said.
William Matsheke, the Gauteng legislature's chairperson of the sports, arts and culture portfolio committee said their oversight visit to the monument last month found poor workmanship.
"The City of Tshwane doesn't want to issue an occupancy certificate as there are challenges in relation to fire hydrants which were supposed to be installed by the main contractor but one of the key fundamental issues that make that monument not to be open is regarding the heritage component," Matsheke said.
Matsheke said the committee had given the department until the October 30 to ensure that everything is cleared.
"I'm extremely disappointed because this monument, which was conceptualised in 2006 during the tenure of Mbazima Shilowa as premier, is still not open... the last remaining leaders of that march Sophie de Bruyn had said that: 'I hope the monument opens before I die,'" Matsheke said.
The department of arts and culture's spokesperson, Nomazwe Ntlokwana, said MEC Mbali Hophe had appointed their acting chief director to the vacant post and function of corporate service and facilities to "expediate the process of infrastructure service delivery."
DA's member of the legislature, Kingsol Chabalala said: "This is unacceptable as there are millions of rands allocated annually for the maintenance and completion of our heritage sites (including the Women's Living monument)," Chabalala said.
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