Make-over for Tshwane municipal headquarters

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Pretoria - Before the end of the month, the ageing structure housing the City of Tshwane municipal headquarters will be cleared to pave way for the construction of a new state-of-the art building.

Briefing the media about the relocation process, City Manager Jason Ngobeni said the new structure, which will also be a communal meeting place for Tshwane residents, will cost about R2 billion.

Ngobeni said the new building will feature all sorts of innovations, including green-technology.

"It will allow the municipality to interact with residents much more easily and we will be able to group various divisions accordingly," said Ngobeni.

The new building will centralise all municipal departments that are currently spread across the city.

City staff officials at the old Munitoria Building will be placed at the rented Isivuno House in Pretoria Central until the new building is completed.

Ngobeni said departments housing sensitive, crucial municipal information would be the first to relocate, and then his office and that of the executive mayor would follow.

"Before the end of this month, this building will be empty."

Ngobeni said the building process will be handled by Tsela Tshweu consortium, which includes Group Five, Standard Bank, Nedbank and other 20 small Black Economic Empowerment companies.

The project, which will be funded through a public-private partnership, is set to attract private investment.