The whole protection of the historical, heritage, cultural heart of Port Elizabeth question is one that has made a lot of people a lot of money.
It is a known fact that over the years Central and Richmond Hill have been subject to cycles of decline and favour – in my misspent youth Richmond Hill was not quite as trendy as Central but has now overtaken Central as the trendiest spot in town. Let’s face it – Central, even after the massive upgrades to Parliament Street still has the reputation of being a little bit seedy and is once again the go to spot for a Forty Buck Whore and a spot of drugs.
Richmond Hill on the other hand has a heap of shopping and entertainment gems with more moving in and taking advantage of the area’s popularity on a daily basis and, so I am told, the home of the Two Hundred Buck Whore.
If you are at all squeamish with honesty may I request that you close this article, sparked from a recent visit to Constitution Hill to view Ken Denton’s demolishing of the Peacock Restaurant and his closing off of a public road.
The Save Our City guys say; “On 24 October 2011 we were informed by the NMBTGA Committee about the demolition of buildings taking place in Port Elizabeth. Apparently this started on 10 October 2011. The buildings being demolished are between Aberdeen and Wasley Streets in Central Port Elizabeth.”
On the Save Our City Campaign web site is an image of Ken Denton and his team being asked by the SA Police Services for the necessary permits. And according to Save Our City; “At the time he failed to produce any permit and said that another organisation had given him permission to demolish the buildings.”
My feeling around this whole heritage question is a convoluted collection of facts and inferences following a loose timeline from the mid 1980’s that go as follows:
Central and Richmond Hill in the 1980’s was the spot where spoilt white brats went to congregate in historical homes in order to get away from their suburban roots. They dabbled in illegal drugs and liquor and changed the face of the area by attracting dealers in these narcotics.
Most of the dealers were from the Northern Areas who had difficulty moving and staying freely in the area because of the apartheid policy of separate development. These spoilt white rich kids who started the rot went on to become spoilt big white kids who moved away and now bemoan the further degradation of an area that they began the rot in, in first place.
Towards the end of the eighties the area started a slow decline once again. As apartheid was dismantled we saw the arrival of a new drug dealing nation that were ‘fleeing persecution’ in Nigeria. This influx of refugees and fleeing of residents created a little Lagos and the retreat the of Northern Areas druglords. In hindsight the Northern Areas druglords were the Mother Theresa of criminals. The Nigerians, on the other hand, were more like the Makro of crime – the biggest wholesalers and dealers in criminal acts in the town.
In the meantime we had a whole bunch of distraught, upright upright citizens who had bought properties at the height of Central’s popularity and were now face to face with the twin ‘evils’ of the dismantling of apartheid and influx of foreign Africans forcing the rapid decline in value of their properties.
Along comes Ken Denton – maybe the man has got more money than sense, who knows? Anyway, our lily white running scared property owners at this stage were NOT looking for a white knight to preserve their historical properties. No, they just wanted to offload their properties as quickly as possible. So, the ‘saviour of Central’ is feted by all and sundry and people begged him to buy their property – some got away with prices that were criminal and some were made to bend before signing.
In no time at all Brother Ken became the proud owner of ………. “a crock of sh*t“.
Somewhere along the line NO-ONE told him that it takes time and money to maintain and rebuild historical properties and that most people who do so are ‘owner restorers’ who bought one or two properties and are spending their time lavishing love on these ancient gems. Did anyone tell Ken that every Estate Agent in Port Elizabeth has a specific throw away line about Central properties; “They all have damp!” Maintaining a Central property is not a bed of roses, people – it takes work, lots of it, that is why they sell so damn cheap. Look around the area to see where the more permanent residents stay – on flat land and in houses that are NOT pre-1940.
So, Brother Ken walked into a buyers market and bought like there was no to-morrow – the silly man. Allied with Brother Ken’s emergence as the ‘Saviour of Central’ was a change in National and local government – a government that, historically, has NO TIES to Central AT ALL. Put yourself in the position of a black person who, under apartheid, was never allowed to own any historical property that was built by the OPPRESOR. Do you honestly think that you would feel any emotional and historical tie to any such building or area if you had been denied the chance by the British and then the Afrikaner to own any of these buildings? Thought not.
Our National and Local government is one tasked with Service Delivery and the building of houses – not to deal with silly white people who didn’t vote for them in the first place. Of course the present situation in Central is also ideal to demonstrate to the whites that they DO NOT COUNT in the new South Africa and letting them experience a little bit of Lagos has quickly make them realise their insignificance.
Why should the government actually make sure that the PHRA / Monuments Council / whoever is supposed to manage our Heritage actually does so? After all our heritage now only stretches back 17 years to the start of democracy.
Ask yourself the question Mr Opposition Party Man; “Do you REALLY care about the destruction of the Red Location houses, Emlotheni and others in the BLACK areas?” Thought Not?
Too many people are running and scoring political points off of the ‘Central Question’. Too many people are making money off of drugs, prostitution and human trafficking because of the ‘Central Question’. Too many people are manipulating the so called development of the area so that they can make money out of Central.
Accusations and counter accusations flow. Ken takes a chance because he sees that crime is rife in the area. Ken takes a chance because he has a low point where he cannot afford to lose any more money. So Ken allows his buildings to decay to a point where he has to destroy them.
You have to ask yourself who is to blame here. Is it Ken for being greedy? Is it the new government for not caring? Is it society for being greedy? Is it because we as society have completely lost our moral compass? Is it really because of the crime?
Look back and question who actually allowed the Central area to become a haven for criminals. Is it really fair to blame one man for the accelerated disgraceful condition of Central?
All I know is that wherever the blame needs to be laid is now moot.
All I know is that it is time for someone to stand up and say; “Enough”.
Who will be that person who takes a bold step and begins to claim back the Central area from drugs and prostitution?
It is NOT about ploughing money into the area but about taking a stand, enforcing the law and returning to a strict moral code. Too many people are getting away with breaking the law and then using the transgressions of others as an excuse and even a precedent.
I have said time and time again to Ken Denton; “Come right out publicly and ask for forgiveness – if Jesus could do it I am sure you could – and then ask the Port Elizabeth public to join hands and help turn Central around.” “Partner with individuals and sell some of your properties back to them – on condition that they renovate within a set time frame and according to set guidelines.” “If needs be make those individuals partners in a separate business that will, for example, own the Donkin Street Houses and rent them out.”
We have all heard that you are possessed of a plan, Ken, NOW is the time to turn public sentiment back to you and away from our City Fathers who, like any 17 year old, seem to be more interested in shiny new toys, cars, clothes and hair doe’s than actually making a difference in the lives of their citizens.
Alan Straton
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It’s time that we all stood up against the rampant crime that is taking place – never mind the ‘heritage’, what will we be leaving our kids as their heritage if we allow this to continue…
I’d like to know the source of the wealth used to buy up all these properties.
Is knowing the source of wealth going to solve the problem?
Yes, because it may possibly be prosecutable – every other time a big spender has landed in PE, in days of past, the long arm of the law followed closely.
I am afraid that the Long Arm of the Law is in his pocket! How long has this taken to happen – years and years and NOTHING has been done. I own a building next to one of his and when I called the Health Inspectors in to take a look, two ladies in high heels arrived and would not go near. Nothing was done about that for a very long time – until the roof burnt off the house and only then did he brick it up to prevent the vagrants entering.
He is the DECAY of Central, but there must be plenty of “officials” involved too. It is time that the Blind Eyes were opened!
The BIGGEST DEN OF INIQUITY is the Ikhaya Bar/Restaurant. The whores and drunks drink outside, in Belmont Terrace, deposit their empties in the gutter, on the sidewalk and /or smash them! I have twice seen couples having sex in broad daylight, at the Little Theatre and in Prospect Hill. There is absolutely no control, on Friday and Saturday nights one can hear the shouting and the gunshots as the patrons leave to go home, down Whites Road early in the morning.
There are no longer any morals – I have been here for 3.5 years now and have been studying people. I have come to the conclusion that South Africans are rapidly spiralling down into a big black hole – never to be taught any manners. They are out to rape, pillage and plunder!
The Drug Dealers are everywhere! On every street corner. They are like cockroaches, squash one and they leave a dozen new eggs to hatch!
Well said, Alan, most probaby the first time that someone has actually taken a bold unemotional step to but it all out there. I studied here in the early mid eighties – and you are so right! So maybe it is time that we all take responsibility for what has happened, acknowledge the challenges and history behind and factors curetly at play and stop being “Jannie Jammer Gatte” and collectively sit down to find practical solutions. You have my support and vote.
Dankie Salome
The time for pussy footing around the issue has long past – if we don’t deal with the issues immediately then we are ALL going to lose.
The real problem here is our stubborn clinging to history. Buildings need an expiry date. To cling on to them for nothing more than sentimental reasons is not sustainable. Once a building reaches a certain age, tear it down, and build something fresh in it’s place. The focus should be on new practical design. The kind of stuff that makes for new memories, new history, and comfortable, productive living. History belongs in books, not on streets.
That’s not Constitution Hill; that is the back of Wasley Street, taken from Aberdeen Street. The Save Our City bunch are all a crowd of gabbering twits with too much time on their hands. Why not speak to Jeremy about what’s happening? I don’t agree with ‘Designspacepe’ – tearing a building down just because it reaches a certain age isn’t correct. It should be judged on merit. The problem in the Eastern Cape is there hasn’t been a functioning heritage approval board for years now. Imagine how many potential investors have been turned off buying in the CBD as a result of the known red tape wrangle when it comes to older buildings, ie: 95% of Central.
Read the article again – yes, I agree that the PHRA does not function and advance reasons why it could possibly not be functioning. Also contributing to the impasse is the criminal situation along with a political master that has no actual tie to the area nor a real mandate to solve the problem.
Someone has to take a stand and STOP everyone blaming everyone else and solve the real issues so that we can move forward.
As a start we need a functioning Metro Police force unafraid to solve the crime problem.
To me the main problem is how our government,local municipalities, police, traffic and metro (or rather lack thereof) manages everything, what exactly are we paying these nimrods for? If these institutions actually did a proper job of what they were tasked to do central would have been a much greater place, and not just central but other areas too.
Look, lets face it, crime and all forms of everything bad will always be around, it’s a fact of life, but it’s also a fact that political retards are running and PRETENDING to protect our “neighborhood”.
Forget Kenny boy and where he got his cash from, I think its about time that we put fire under the arses of the pretending powers to be.
From the picture shown I would say that those buil;dings were definitely better destroyed – they were ugly when they were built, and certainly never improved.