What was once a place of “tranquillity and beauty” in the south of Joburg has become a blot on the landscape, even amid the warehouse brutalism of the industrial suburb of Selby.
The quoted description, along with a “pleasant working environment [and] … a magnificent display of flowers, shrubs and trees”, appeared in a 1979 pamphlet issued by the building’s then owner, Rand Mines Properties (RMP).
Its original owner, Crown Mines, commissioned Herbert Baker (architect of the Union Buildings) to design its head office. It was built in 1911 and was declared a national monument in 1989 and a provincial heritage site in 1999.
Today it is rubble. Even the trees have gone.
Its demolition would not have surprised that chronicler of old Joburg, Herman Charles Bosman, who observed: “I know Johannesburg. And I am satisfied that there is no other city in the world that is so anxious to shake off the memories of its early origins.”
Except that there are a few diehards not so anxious, who are upset by the secretive and possibly illegal demolition. Flo Bird, chair of the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, was “growling with rage” after the discovery in late January of the demolition.
Town planner Andrew Barker, who worked for RMP in the 1980s and “was part of [its] history”, was the first to alert authorities to the demolition. He recalls “an amazing rose garden” on the property along with a landscaped garden, and a revamp done in the 1970s. Decay set in after RMP left the building, though the basic structure remained intact. RMP has since morphed into iProp and has moved further south to Ormonde, where its offices overlook the 18th green of the old Crown Mines golf course.
Its former historical premises have since been occupied by a design firm, a college and more recently a company owned by businessman Mohammed Carim, who refused to speak to the FM. Through a staff member, Carim said he had “certificates” that permitted the demolition, but was “not interested” in sharing these with the FM.
Zunaid Khan, City of Joburg executive director of development planning, confirms that permission to demolish was granted but says it was based on inadequate plans.
Provincial Heritage Resources Authority Gauteng (PHRAG) spokesperson Tumelo Taunyane says a demolition order was granted to Carim through an intermediary.
Khan, in a statement to the FM, says the demolition application was supported by architects’ plans from 1985. There was no mention in the plans of the building’s earlier history. They did not show the towering chimney that was a distinctive feature of the original head office. The chimney has become part of the rubble.
Khan says an order to stop work on the site was issued by the council and the provincial authority. Taunyane says the PHRAG inspected the site on April 3 and the order was issued three days later. He says permission to demolish was granted in August, but it appears that the wreckers went to work only late in December. When the FM visited the site an excavator and compactor were in operation, apparently in defiance of the order.
Bird says it is an offence in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act to demolish a building older than 60 years. In the case of a conviction, one of the penalties is that no development may take place on the site for 10 years. It is understood that one of Carim’s companies has applied for retail rights.
Khan says the city “notes with dismay the demolition that took place in contravention of the heritage processes and protocols”.
A meeting was scheduled this week involving the city’s departments and those of Gauteng to decide on a course of action, says Khan.
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