Weekend parties on vacant land
Vagrants freely live on an abandoned property in Ferndale, for the time being.
Mauritz and Liz van Rensburg live next door to an abandoned plot where vagrants cause a weekly disturbance.
However, the vagrants cannot be relocated until the plot owner is made aware of the situation, and nobody seems to know who the owner is.
The one-acre-stand is on West Avenue, Ferndale. “People have been living there for three years,” Mauritz said. “During the week they do not worry us, but on Saturdays they drink and start fighting.
“They make a noise and we have to call the Randburg police to quieten them down.”
Van Rensburg put a lock on the gate and often closes holes in the fence with barbed wire. Yet time and again he finds his work undone.
“I have closed a hole in the gate hundreds of times and put a lock on the gate but it doesn’t help,” Van Rensburg said.
Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood is trying to find the owner of the property. “In this case the owner is responsible for what happens on the property,” said Wood.
Either Wood or one of the Van Rensburgs needs to visit City Council and find out who the owner is before anything can be done, said Wood.
However the Van Rensburgs say their previous dealings with the council had been unhelpful, and they are not expecting a good outcome anytime soon.
Details: Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood 082 853 2174.
