The scourge of abandoned and hijacked buildings in the Buffalo City Metro is compromising the safety of residents and businesses, with criminals running their operations from some of these neglected premises. BCM has identified 45 problem buildings, mostly in the East London city centre, Quigney, Southernwood, Vincent, Bonnie Doon, Egoli, Nahoon and Berea.
Buffalo City Metro’s financial woes have compromised its operations and put critical services at risk.The city is so cash-strapped that, according to sources, transactions on its petrol cards used by some traffic officers have been rejected in recent weeks, with no remaining credit at some filling stations because of unpaid bills.
Even with a reprimand from the National Assembly, authorities this week again failed to honour their promise to West Bank claimants to build them houses, as per an agreement dating back 23 years .
The National Assembly’s portfolio committee on human settlements has given Buffalo City Metro and the human settlements department 21 days to produce a report on why not a single house has been built in the West Bank restitution project which the state approved in 2000.
Buffalo City Metro has ramped up its efforts to fight back against the scourge of cable theft and vandalism of its assets by hiring armed security and installing security cameras at key intersections.