The first shots in the war between residents of the city and illegal student accommodation establishments were fired this week when the municipality forced one such establishment to close down.
Residents of Magda Street are celebrating after what they called a “hellhole”, the Sunset Manor Student Accommodation was given notice by the City of Mbombela to close their doors within 14 days.

This follows months and moths of complaints by residents who had to cope with unruly students and loud music at all times day and night.
The instruction to close was confirmed by one Mpho, who did not want to give her surname. She is the owner of Sunset Manor as well as two adjacent properties on which students are also accommodated.
For more than two years, the taunting behaviour of students living in the Sunset Manor have provoked residents to such an extent that one has now decided to move.

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“We cannot take it anymore! Nobody wants to act, and now I am forced to try and sell my house. But I don’t get any offers due to the student nest next to me!” This was the irate response of Willie Pienaar.
Sunset Manor was a well-known five-star guesthouse before it was sold and turned into accommodation for students.
Lowvelder previously reported on the struggle of residents in various suburbs who must cope with the noisy and unruly behaviour of students in the substantial number of student houses spread all over the city.

Pienaar said he had to drop his asking price by R800 000 to try and sell his house. “But not even that could convince sellers to take up the offer. If they see the unruly mess of the student accommodation in Magda Street, they walk away.”
Out of desperation he is now renting another house, and will move there at the end of the month. His property will now be rented out.
“A family member of mine who also stays in Magda Street is also trying to sell his three-storey house valued at over R5m. And once again, buyers just walk away if they hear about Sunset Manor.”
One of the biggest frustrations of people who live near student accommodation is that complaints to either to police or the City of Mbombela are ignored.

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Although new regulations on the establishment of student accommodation was approved by the municipality earlier this year, not even this is deterring businessmen form buying houses and converting it into student accommodation.
In Stonehenge alone, about 23 illegal student accommodation establishments are operating without approval. Unofficial figures indicate there are about 200 student establishments in the city currently.

Joseph Ngala, spokesperson for the municipality, previously said that according to municipal records, there are only 11 facilities that are fully registered as student accommodation. Currently the council is considering 20 new applications.
The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT) recently launched a campaign to address such complaints. Linda Grimbeek, the CEO of the KLCBT, said complaints received by them on a specially established complaints hotline, are given to the municipality’s law enforcement department.

“This led to a large number of illegal student accommodation units being given notice to rectify their illegal operations within 14 days. At least one such establishment was already given a notice to close within 14 days,” said Grimbeek. She could, however, not say which one.
Efforts to get confirmation of this from Ngala proved unsuccessful.\

In a WhatsApp message sent to the students, Mpho said: “I don’t know how many times I have asked you guys to stop playing music after 10pm. We have been reported and Mbombela has sent me a strict warning to stop operation on 14 days.
“I hope you are happy and will take responsibility for your actions.
“People will lose their jobs. I’ll lose my business and you will lose a place stays, and that affects even students who had been behaving.” (sic)