Chantelle Benjamin

Johannesburg Metro Editor

A LANDMARK decision in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court this week could see developers or architects receiving jail sentences in the future for demolishing protected buildings.

Justus van der Hoven, owner of partially demolished Dudley Court, a heritage building in Parktown North, Johannesburg, became the first person on Tuesday to be given a five-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay a R30000 fine to the South African Heritage Resources Agency.

Van der Hoven was charged under the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999.

The heritage agency’s Solayman Ebrahim said offenders usually received R5000 fines with no suggestion of jail time.

The judgment comes amid heated debate over the fate of 10 inner-city Art Deco buildings that have been targeted for demolition to make way for a planned Gauteng provincial government precinct. Ironically, a group of architects is challenging the destruction of the buildings.

African Heritage Resources Agency CEO Phakamani Buthelezi said he was delighted with the precedent the ruling set.

“The magistrate made it clear that the intention of the sentence was not only punitive in nature but also intended to act as a deterrent to prevent other developers from damaging or destroying heritage resources without permission,” he said.

Dudley Court is older than 60 years and was listed on the Register of Conservation Worthy Immovable Property in March 1998 by the National Monuments Council as it is considered a “rare example of an Art Deco-style residential building”.