PREGA GOVENDER

THE High Court in Pretoria has ordered the owners of a hotel booked by the German World Cup squad to submit daily weather reports to the Tshwane municipality because some of its facilities are below the flood plain.

The court on Friday ordered Napaj Property Investment — owners of the Velmore Hotel in Erasmia, southwest of Pretoria — to comply with a host of building regulations by tomorrow or lose out on hosting the German team.

Both the Gauteng provincial government and the City of Tshwane had deemed the hotel to be illegal and unsafe because it had not complied with municipal building regulations.

The court action was launched by Tshwane municipality.

The hotel, situated on the banks of the Hennops River, and which has often hosted South African VIPs — including President Jacob Zuma and former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni — has been instructed to submit a weather monitoring plan for approval which must include risks associated with the possible flooding of the training facility as it is next to the river. “The weather monitoring plan must be updated on a 12-hourly basis with the latest information from the South African Weather Service,” the order stated.

In addition to the weather monitoring plan, the hotel has been instructed to submit an emergency evacuation plan for the spa and all other training facilities, including the swimming pools and recreational areas, for approval.

The owner of the hotel, Emil Keyser, spent about R40-million on developing a brand-new, 50 room hotel building especially for the German team.

The building, separate from the main 48-room hotel, was completed in November last year.

The two hotel buildings have been booked exclusively for the team and the German media for the duration of the tournament.

Other stringent requirements which Velmore Hotel will have to satisfy by tomorrow include:

• Removing the airconditioning pipes in the drain shafts, providing covers for the grease traps and mechanical ventilators in the bathroom and offices;
• Completing the water reticulation system according to the required specifications;
• Removal of all diesel tanks;
• Installing signage to indicate fire hydrants and hoses; and
• Installing fire doors, smoke detection signage and smoke ventilators.

The hotel’s owners also had to apply to the Gauteng Transport Provincial Roads Department for a temporary speed reduction to 60km/h on the public road in front of the property and accept responsibility for the design and installation of the required signs.

According to the order, the hotel had to arrange the presence of metro and provincial traffic personnel on a temporary basis to ensure traffic slowdowns or stops for pedestrians crossing for the duration of the World Cup.

“The respondent (Napaj Property Investment) will procure the services of metro police at its own costs and must pay all the costs on the services of metro police in advance,” the order stated.

Earlier this week, Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, slapped Velmore Hotel with an administrative fine of R57950 for unlawfully changing the landuse of the property.

As part of an administrative procedure, Velmore Hotel paid the fine so it could be allowed permission to rectify problems.

According to the department, the hotel was built on dolomite and within a floodline.

Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa confirmed that the technical team would conduct a final inspection of the hotel’s premises tomorrow.

She said she had no doubt that the team would find a home in Pretoria.

“We must not pre-empt Monday’s outcome.

‘‘We wish that we could have dealt with this earlier, but we ask people to be patient and allow us to process matters,” she said.

The German team arrives on June 7.

Keyser declined to comment.

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Source: Sunday Times