RANK AND FOUL: Rats, rot and rubbish: The decaying state of Algoa Park police flats

The Algoa Park police flats in Gqeberha have long been an area of concern for the police and public, but in recent months the facility has reached a state of utter decay.

Two small dogs scurried across the road between the burnt and broken garages of the two blocks of flats on 6th Avenue, Algoa Park.

No, wait. Not dogs, but giant rats. They disappear into a pile of garbage that fills one of the unused garages, where the door and a section of the brick wall have been destroyed.

Walking past the foul-smelling filth, the closest of the two buildings is clearly in a state of disrepair, and looking up along the stairs of the 12-storey building not a single floor is without a broken window.

Gaining access is easy. There is no front door. It has been completely removed.

The elevator has not been operational for several years, and more recently the metal panels housing the buttons have been stolen.

You may think this is a long-forgotten building, abandoned by its owner and left to decay, or be overrun by the homeless. It is, in fact, the flats of the South African Police Service.

The two buildings, named Gamtoos and Sterrenberg (or Terrenberg, since the S is missing) are meant to house police officers and their families. The two 12-storey buildings consist of about 114 flats each.

The neglect of the buildings is not all that new, but it seems the deterioration has escalated heavily in recent months.

And questions to the relevant government departments, about the maintenance and steady decline of the facilities, painted a picture of disarray as the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) and the SAPS pointed fingers at each other as the custodians of the buildings.

Concerns about the buildings were again highlighted when the DA’s Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate, Retief Odendaal, accompanied by the party’s provincial leader, Andrew Whitfield, and MP Yusuf Cassim, conducted an oversight visit at the decaying police buildings.

Odendaal, who grew up in Algoa Park, said he had received numerous complaints from nearby residents about the buildings, and the health and safety concerns that arise from them.

“I can tell you some horror stories about this place,” a police official said as he walked into the foyer of Gamtoos.

“I’ve been staying here for four years. It was already bad when I first came here, but it keeps going down.”

Only a fence separates the flats from the Algoa Park police station.

All the corridors and common areas are dark because light fittings have either been removed or broken.

On the landing of each flight of stairs,