Truro House.
Image: Supplied
Truro House in Durban, the headquarters of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, at Victoria Embankment/Margaret Mncadi Avenue, has been temporarily closed due to building defects and health hazards.
The department officially closed the premises in mid-May, with the closure extending into the first week of June.
The shutdown was prompted by dilapidated infrastructure, inoperable air conditioning, and non-functional elevators after a staff member nearly fell into one, with unsafe working conditions.
Other than the name of the building, its history is ambivalently steeped in pride and pain.
Pride because it took the name of the first ship, the Truro, that landed on November 16, 1860, bringing the first lot of indentured workers to grow an ailing colonial economy, and pain because it showed the hierarchical preference of the apartheid government in providing for the needs of the majority of people in South Africa.
The relationship between old apartheid era buildings and new democratic dispensation buildings, the dependency of new on older buildings, is not unique to South Africa. Indeed, it has become increasingly common, especially in Western liberal democracies, to acknowledge, rather than deny, burdensome legacies and contentious episodes of the past.
In South Africa, old apartheid era building constructs have embraced the democratic ideals to critically engage with the legacy of the past and open up alternative perspectives. In this regard, the Truro House serves the nation by embracing the democratic ideals of the constituency it serves.
When Truro House was first opened, Dr JN Reddy, MP, chairman of the ministers' council and minister of housing of the House of Delegates, wrote that: “Friday, 16 November 1990 is as historic a day as Friday, 16 November 1860 when, at about 14:00, the SS Truro dropped anchor at the Point which is hardly a kilometre from Truro House, … we are, indeed, proud of this historic moment, the commemorative inauguration of Truro House, the present generation's tribute to the 342 men, women and children who had the courage and the vision to immigrate to this beloved land of our adoption.
"As the country stands poised on the threshold of a new social and a truly democratic political order, I am confident that this edifice will serve all, regardless of race, colour or creed, who enter its portals for assistance, thereby exalting the sacrifices of the pioneering indentured Indian labourers… Truro House embodies the spirit of this first group and the succeeding groups of indentured Indian labourers who immigrated to South Africa. Today, we are, indeed, proud of them, and we salute their heroic decision. Like the ship after which it is named, may this Truro House take us and the generations yet to be born into a bright and secure future.”
Thirty- six years later, Truro House lies ruined, described as a “health hazard with unbearable infrastructure conditions” by government workers from various departments housed at Durban’s Truro House, now owned by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.
For years, the KZN Department of Education had received complaints about faulty air conditioners, non-payment of telephone service, out-of-service lifts, and a lack of paper and ink for essential printing for schools. Most employees have to walk down to the toilets on the first floor, as the lifts have not been working for several years. In view of the closure, all of the employees have been deployed to various teaching centres across Durban or are working remotely.
The closure of Truro House represents all that is wrong with the democracy we cherish. A building with its administration under the aegis of the KZN Department of Education that was meant to "take us and the generations yet to be born into a bright and secure future" has led us to malfeasance that has crumbled the hope we hold on so dearly to.
The crumbling infrastructure and the ruined state of Truro House under the watch of the Government, eThekwini Municipality, and the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal paint a dismal picture for the sacrosanct educational service that was hoped to be provided for. Wanton, corrupt, and deliberate neglect under our watch!
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.