The City of Cape Town ran afoul of heritage regulations when it started roofing work on the more-than-100-year-old Salt River Hall without the necessary permit.

Salt River Heritage Society executive member Anwar Omar says he noticed work being done on the roof of the hall and adjoining buildings on Tuesday June 25 and reported the matter to Heritage Western Cape.

“As the main Salt River building is over 100 years old, we, as a heritage society, were not consulted on this work by the City,” he said.

The following day, Heritage Western Cape ordered the work to be stopped.

It’s CEO, Michael Janse van Rensburg, said the work had started without the necessary approval.

“All properties, whether state owned or privately owned, require the necessary permits in place prior the commencement of work on site if the property is older than 60 years,” he said.

City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the City was now working on getting the necessary permits to do repairs to the hall’s asbestos roof.

“The Salt River Community Hall is a Grade 3A heritage resource building and is protected under Section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act general protection, and for that reason, before any repair work can commence, the facility would need to go through a heritage impact assessment,” he said.

The hall, which opened in 1917, is also part of the site, near the Salt River Market, that the City has set aside for social housing (“Businesses in limbo at market,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, August 11, 2022)

Mr Omar said his organisation was concerned about the impact of the housing project on the future of the hall.

“The Salt River Hall should have significant heritage. It should be a place that preserves the history, integrity and heritage of Salt River,” he said.

The Salt River Heritage Society supported the City’s plans to provide social housing, but it was concerned that the project had been planned for a heritage site with little consultation with the organisation or the community, he said.

When the Tatler asked the City how the housing project might affect the Salt River Hall, mayoral committee member for human settlements Carl Pophaim referred us to Communicare, a non-profit company which was awarded the property to develop housing.

According to the Mr Pophaim, the property was released to the developer in July 2022 with construction expected to have started this month.

After the Tatler sent numerous emails to Communicare, seeking clarity on the plans for the hall, Communicare spokesperson Shamilah Orrie said: “With Communicare not having taken ownership of the property yet, it would be premature for us to make press statements about the development of and the occupants at the Salt River Market. We will be happy to brief the press proactively if and when the City is ready to hand over the property.”

Mr Janse van Rensburg said Heritage Western Cape was awaiting a formal submission of a heritage impact assessment by the developer for the redevelopment of the entire site.

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