Two years after closure, derelict Harwin’s Arcade remains an eyesore

Pietermaritzburg’s iconic Harwin’s Arcade in Theatre Lane was shut down in 2023 during a municipal operation targeting derelict buildings, owing to its deteriorating condition and illegal electricity connections.

Despite being closed and secured, the historic arcade continues to deteriorate, with illegal occupants allegedly causing further damage to the property.

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The building has also become an informal dumping site, raising concerns among nearby business owners and residents.

This comes despite assurances from Msunduzi Speaker Eunice Majola that the municipality would clean the site and determine an appropriate course of action for neglected buildings of this nature.

Lindiwe Mbatha, who owns a salon opposite the arcade entrance, said the accumulation of rubbish had negatively affected businesses in the area.

“The condition of the building is making it difficult for us to trade. Customers have to pass by piles of garbage, and it creates a very poor impression of the area,” she said.

This entire place is not clean. Some operators here dump their waste anywhere and the municipality takes its time to collect garbage here.

“To better the situation, this arcade must be opened, and tenants brought in to operate in the available spaces,” Mbatha said.

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She said no one had been held accountable for the irregularities uncovered in the building.

Tenants had been paying rent to someone who identified himself only as a supervisor sent by the owner.

During its closure in 2023, Majola said illegal structures built inside the arcade had been demolished.

At the time, she said the building was a disaster waiting to happen — it could collapse or burn down because of the illegal electricity connections.

The occupants had connected electricity from an outside street lamp.

It seems, however, that the city’s attempts to address the derelict, dilapidated building have been hamstrung by the lack of ownership records.

A man claiming to be a supervisor would go and collect rent from tenants, and that was it. Even when the Speaker and the Msunduzi team went to close the building down, it was not known who the owner was.

“Even now, no one knows who owns the building,” said an official who spoke to The Witness.

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City spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said that since the building’s closure in 2023 due to serious safety and compliance concerns, Harwin’s Arcade had remained a priority site under the municipality’s problem-building management programme.

“At this stage, the municipality is still finalising the verification of ownership and related legal standing, which is a key requirement before any long-term enforcement or redevelopment decision can be implemented.

“In the interim, the site is being monitored as a high-risk property, with periodic inspections and targeted interventions where possible to reduce immediate safety and health risks,” Mkhize said.

She said the municipality had implemented interim containment measures to the extent possible.

However, ongoing challenges such as illegal access, vandalism and dumping continue to undermine these efforts and highlight the need for a more decisive and structured intervention. Going forward, the municipality is implementing a clear and structured intervention plan to bring finality to the matter.

“This includes intensified enforcement action, strengthened building control and environmental health oversight, and co-ordinated legal processes aimed at establishing ownership and compelling compliance,” she said.

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Mkhize said that until legal clarity on ownership was achieved, the municipality would determine and execute a definitive long-term solution for the property.

This may include enforced compliance by the owner, rehabilitation requirements, formal redevelopment processes or other lawful interventions available to the municipality, including expropriation where justified.