Durban – Phakade Mchunu, of eThekwini's Fire and Emergency Services has urged “property owners” in the city to refrain from illegally converting their building use from their original and approved purpose.
He was referring to buildings being changed, for instance, from an office building to a residential one illegally.
Mchunu was speaking on the roles that the fire unit plays beyond just putting out fires. He said one of their roles is fire by-law enforcement where they have encountered this problem of buildings being used illegally.
Speaking on the eThekwini Municipality's online platform, eThekwini Matters, Mchunu said the illegal changing of the occupancy purpose for a building was a huge concern.
The official revealed that even the smallest of changes to the original design of the building can be a fire hazard. He said that some business owners put up burglar bars at certain exits and entrances of their businesses.
“You will know that even here in the CBD we have a serious challenge of buildings that many years ago were used for a specific purpose, suddenly as years go, you find that you get to that building, it's now something else,” he said.
Giving an example, he said, “if a building was designed as an office, and it has been changed to an accommodation, that means people are going to be sleeping there overnight and in numbers that are not controlled.
“That is a serious challenge we are faced with, that is why our fire prevention strategy seeks to address those challenges,” adding that the unit had to enforce its fire by-laws to ensure that buildings are safe.