At least 46 problem buildings have been demolished by the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality since 2019, and a new action plan is to be presented at a council meeting to target the remaining properties.
Several businesses in Central have been forced to temporarily close, while others are operating for only half the day as part of the inner city entered the 10th day without water on Tuesday.
Within hours of contractors bricking up problem buildings in Central last week, vagrants knocked out the bricks and cement and reclaimed the derelict structures from which they had been evicted.
The DA in Nelson Mandela Bay wants the municipality to implement its problem building bylaws which could result in evictions, forced repair work and the demolition of derelict and abandoned structures in the inner city.