Following the fire in a Johannesburg hijacked building that killed more than 70 people, Daily Maverick revisited some of the dilapidated buildings in the city of Durban, where crime and grime are fast-destroying the once-vibrant and prosperous inner-city tourism hub. This is Part Two in a series on eThekwini.

In Durban's Warwick Junction section, there is a building that has come to be popularly known as Marikana. It is a set of three three-storey buildings facing three streets and flanked by a busy taxi rank on the other. The buildings have a single forecourt.

The building complex was named after the area in North West where 34 mine workers, security guards and policemen were killed during a violent strike in 2012.

Read Part One in this series here: Durban decay - how crime and corruption are turning a world-class city into a crumbling nightmare

It is one of those buildings that Durbanites have come to regard as a byword for decrepit. Critics say the whole city will resemble these buildings in the near future if nothing is done to arrest the decline.

Leading Durban-based town planner John Forbes says the decay of the buildings and other infrastructure in the Durban CBD has been consistent over the years and is an indictment of the municipality.

Over the past few years, there has been a growing number of buildings similar to Marikana in the city centre and on the outskirts.

The so-called Marikana building has a chequered past. It was...