Glen Marais couple ‘branched out’ of their house by neighbour’s tree
A tree collapse on Jacobus Street in Glen Marais caused an estimated R50 000 damage to a neighbouring property.
A couple of Jacobus Street in Glen Marais were unable to get into their home after a neighbour’s tree fell onto their house last Wednesday morning.
The tree collapsed onto the roof of the garage and also blocked entry via the front door.
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“This was the second incident,” said Hettie Pretorius, who is renting the property with her husband, Wessel. “The first was two weeks ago, when [part of] the tree fell onto the property during a storm.
“We were at work when one of the neighbours called the landlord, Simon Venter, telling him that the tree had fallen.
“Venter alerted us, and when we got home we found that the garage roof had caved in and we couldn’t access the house because parts of the tree had blocked the front door.”
The Pretorius family only managed to gain entry into the property at around 6pm that evening.
“The neighbour, whose property the tree is in, organised for tree fellers to come and attend to the tree,” said Venter.
“They cut parts of the tree and removed the part that had fallen into my property.
“The damage is bad,” Venter said. “The garage roof collapsed, part of the roof of the house is damaged and a wall is also damaged and needs to be repaired.
“The cost of the damage is around R50 000 and I have already contacted my insurance about this. I believe my insurance will contact the neighbour’s insurance in an effort to repair and fix the damage done to the property.
“The neighbour has also organised for the tree to be cut down completely, and we are working well together to handle the situation.”
Hettie said she was glad nobody was home when the incident happened. “All this happened when we were at work, so luckily nobody got injured or hurt,” she said.
Venter said residents should be aware of trees, especially residents with big trees.
“We need to keep a close eye on trees because some of them are very old and weak and can be blown away by strong winds,” Venter said.
“Monitor your trees and prune them; people could get hurt.”
