Question NW673 to the Minister of Public Works
11 April 2019 - NW673
Ryder, Mr D to ask the Minister of Public Works
(1) Whether the Van Der Stel House on the western corner of the parliamentary precinct, which currently houses SA Police Service offices, forms part of his department’s Prestige Portfolio; (2) (a) who is responsible for the maintenance of the building, (b) what (i) is the scope and (ii) are the time frames of any planned maintenance and (c) was Heritage Western Cape consulted in the development of the maintenance plan; (3) whether a (a) Custodian Asset Management Plan (CAMP) and (b) User Asset Management Plan (UAMP) have been put in place for the building; if so, was Heritage Western Cape consulted during the development of the CAMP and UAMP; (4) whether he has found that the State is compliant with the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999, and its associated regulations with regard to this building; (5) whether the building is currently compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Act 85 of 1993; if not, what steps are planned to address compliance in the (a) short and (b) medium term? NW796E
Reply:
(1) Yes, the Belvedere Building forms part of the Department of Public Work’s Cape Town Prestige Portfolio;
(2) (a) The Department of Public Works is responsible for the maintenance of the Belvedere Building;
(b) (i) Requests were received from both the Presidency, as well as Parliament for the utilization of the building. The matter has been referred to the in-house heritage architect for recommendation regarding the optimal future use of the building. The outcome will allow the Department to finalise the scope of work for the total refurbishment of the building, thereby addressing the backlog of maintenance required to restore the building;
(b) (ii) The time frames will be determined by the finalisation of the process in relation to part (b) (i) above;
(c) The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) will be part of the project team in the planning phase of this project;
(3) (a) No, a Custodian Asset Management Plan (C-AMP) has not been put in place.
(b) Yes, a User Asset Management Plan (U-AMP) was compiled for the building. Heritage Western Cape does not take part in the formulation of U-AMPs and C-AMPS, as these mainly involve the Department of Public Works and client departments. Heritage Western Cape will be involved once the scope of work in respect of the refurbishment of the building has been established.
(4) To date, SAHRA have not yet been requested to do a survey of the building to establish the compliance of the building to the Act. SAHRA will be consulted in that regard.
(5) (a) and (b) The building is non-compliant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993). However, all the fire-fighting equipment and signage is compliant for the building and day-to-day maintenance is being carried out as required. All matters of non-compliance will be addressed as part of the upcoming major refurbishment project.