Several auctions of properties formerly tenanted by government will be conducted around the country by auction house Auction Alliance.

Safety, Security and Justice Holdings property portfolio manager Myles Friis-Smith said yesterday the business involved trading properties. The government buildings were being auctioned for commercial reasons.

The company had a property portfolio of about R80m.

Friis-Smith said that the properties under the hammer were tenanted by police and the justice and defence departments .

About 80% of the company's portfolio was covered by government leases, which offered the group security of tenure.

Kicking off the auctions on June 15 will be the sale of police offices in Voortrekker Road, Parow in the Cape. This will be followed the same day by the magistrate's court building in Hopefield, Western Cape.

On June 17 a building in Govan Mbeki Avenue, Port Elizabeth, which used to be tenanted by the justice department, will come up for sale.

On the same day a building housing offices of the defence department will come under the hammer in Somerset-East.

Offices that were used by the police in Randfontein, Gauteng, and which have since been vacated will be sold on June 21 followed by the sale of an agricultural holding in Heidelberg.

On the same day offices currently being used by the police in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal will be put up for sale.