Police raids on derelict properties get civic approval

POLICE raids on derelict houses on the Berea have been welcomed by local civic organisation, Save Our Berea, which has been at the forefront of fighting the scourge of what it calls Trojan Horses in the area since its inception.

Berea SAPS in partnership with Metro Police, the Berea CPF, ward councillor Martin Meyer, the Florida Road UIP, Blue Security and Enforce, have carried out a combined raid on abandoned houses in the Berea and Morningside areas over the past few weeks.

According to Lt Poobalan Naidoo, spokesperson for Berea SAPS, police were executing normal stop and searches as well as visiting vacant and derelict houses with the aim of locating wanted criminals and intercepting any illegal activity such as trading in drugs. He said any individuals or groups found living in the vacant homes who could be linked to existing crimes would be arrested.

Cheryl Johnson and Kevin Dunkley, founders of Save Our Berea, have been working on naming and shaming the owners of so-called Trojan Horses – the derelict properties in the community which have been left to deteriorate and which have become havens for vagrants and criminals.

“Save Our Berea welcomes the latest raids instigated by the Municipality at derelict houses on the Berea. What we want to know is why the Municipality is not charging the owners of these properties. We have been agitating in the wider press and on our Facebook page for two years about these propertie, that are often heritage properties and are protected by our heritage body AMAFA, but are deliberately left to rot so that the owners can claim they are beyond repair, making it easier for them to obtain a demolition order from AMAFA,” said Johnson.

She explained that once a demolition order was granted, the site could then be developed, usually into a high density development which often included questionable rezoning to the detriment of the residential area.

“The municipality needs to charge the owners of 325 Problem Mkhize (Cowey) Road and 122 9th Avenue. Both these houses pose a serious health and security risk to the public, yet in spite of numerous meetings, e-mails of complaint to council and name-and-shame media coverage, neighbours are still waiting for justice. What we find even more alarming, is that we are still waiting for Head of Health for Durban Central areas, Vasie Pillay, to get back to us with an explanation as to why the department of health under her watch has failed to ensure that the unhygienic state of these properties has been reversed,” she said.

Johnson said Save Our Berea had alerted Pillay to the problem more than three months ago when Save Our Berea filmed its insert for Carte Blanche. At the time, the swimming pool at 325 Problem Mkhize was overflowing with rotting garbage, posing a serious health hazard for neighbours.

“When the same house was raided last week, the pool was still overflowing with rotting garbage. How long does it take Ms Pillay and the department of health to act on a complaint? Save Our Berea wants to know what she is doing about protecting the rights of residents who are forced to live next to exposed rotting garbage and the vermin it attracts. If our municipal officials cannot, and will not do the job for which they are employed, then we call for them to be replaced,” she said.