Illegal CBD houses are bulldozed

RESIDENTS of North Rand Road were left shocked and homeless when the rooms they rented were demolished by the metro on Tuesday.

They could only stand and watch as their homes were bulldozed by the buildings control department, a division of the city planning department of Ekurhuleni Municipality.

A woman who has been renting at 71 North Rand Road for the past seven years, said they knew nothing about the plans to bulldoze the homes. They were woken up by another tenant warning them about what was happening outside.

“I have been living here for seven years, what am I going to do? Where am I going to live because I come from the Free State. And the other residents too are from outside the province. Where will we go?”

Babygirl Chuene, manager at the building controls department, said the demolition of the rooms was standard procedure following a court order to have the homes destroyed, as they were illegal.

“Certain processes must be followed when developing on a property, which these property owners did not to.

“We have been sending them notices about these illegal developments since 2011. This is now the final stage of these cases, which unfortunately means the homes need to be destroyed,” Chuene said.

According to the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act a municipality must approve any develop on a property before it can take place. Also, a municipality is in charge of ensuring that if there are buildings constructed, they comply with the provisions of the act.

The city planning department conducts regular assessments of properties. If they find there are illegal activities occurring on properties, such as illegal construction, notices are sent to the relevant land owners to request them to resolve the matter.

In this case, the property owner in question, according to the department, did not comply.

Former metro spokesman, Sam Modiba, who spoke to EXPRESS in October last year regarding the same issue, said: “If property owners do not comply with contravention notices issued, legal proceedings are instituted against them, which result in a court order to rectify and/or alternatively demolish the illegal building structure.”

But according to one of the landlords whose property was bulldozed at number 71, Duncan Madonsela, he has never received notices or warnings from the buildings department and knew nothing about the court order to destroy his property.

“It is the first time today I find out about what is happening and that is only because my tenants called me to ask what was happening. They themselves were confused about the situation.

“I have in the past sent requests to the city planning department for approval to build on my property, which up to now I am still waiting for,” Madonsela said.

“Nothing wrong is going on, on my property. We do not disturb anyone. The residents are happy and always have been. I have never received any complaints from them about anything.”

Madonsela said he had spoken to his lawyers and they were planning on laying charges against the municipality for damages caused to his property.

Jaco Terblanche, ward councillor for the area, said this served as a warning to others out there who were doing the same thing.

“The demolition of these properties today serves as an example of the consequences of not complying with the law. People need to know they cannot do as they please.

He said there were more properties on North Rand Road with court orders against the owners which would be demolished soon.