A vacant property, 34 Koraalboom Avenue, has become a den of criminals and residents in the area are demanding that the relevant authorities or the owner do something about it.
According to these residents, criminals are using the bushes on the property as a hiding place to break into nearby homes. It is also claimed that vagrants are sleeping in the yard.
One of the residents, Jackie Price, said she does not know the owner of the property, but saw contractors working in the yard in 2020 and there is a board outside the yard that show that the property was sold at the auction. However, they never came back after lockdown.

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“The main problem now is that there are people jumping over the wall into my yard to take a shortcut to Stamvrug Street. I was forced to put up razor wire to stop that. Someone stole all the copper pipes from my plumbing and definitely came from the bushes of the vacant property,” she said.
One of the victims robbed outside the property, Virginia Masello, said she was lucky to have escaped unharmed, although she lost most of her valuables. She is demanding that the area should receive serious attention.

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“I was attacked by two unknown young men who came from the bushes with screwdrivers and demanded my valuables and money. I gave them to them, and while they were busy searching my bag, I managed to run away. I think the authorities need to ensure that they engage the owner of the land to clean it or sell the place to someone who can maintain it,” she said.
The City of Mbombela’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality was not aware of the empty property, but undertook to look into the matter and try to locate the owner.