Residents put rent boycott on freeze
The Umgibeli building administrators have started to beef up security at the notorious building after tenants threatened to boycott rent and use the money for security upgrades.
Threats of a rent boycott has prompted the owner of a Sunnyside block of flats to beef up the building’s security.
First Property Trust (FPT) had agreed to build a new entrance and to introduce an access control system. Work on the improvements had already started, said resident Edmond Moyo said.
He warned that residents would keep a close eye on developments, and wanted the work completed before the end of the month.
“If they fail to do so, we will take matters into our own hands and boycott the rent. Our safety of comes first and each day passes without proper security means our lives are at stake,” he said.
The building came in the spotlight since April when criminals shot a 6-month-old boy, Musea Weldencheal, and his father, Seltan, during a robbery at the building.
The bullet penetrated the child’s legs before hitting his father in the upper body.
Seltan lived with the bullet inside his body for 21 days before doctors removed it on 19 May and he is still recovering from home.
The child ended up dead after suffering from bullet wounds for four months.
The child died in Steve Biko Academic Hospital on 1 August after developing an infection from the bullet wounds. His death at the age of 10 months left most tenants in a state of shock and in fear for their lives.
The robbers, who are still at large, got away with R1 000 and a cellphone.
At some stage, a lack of access control measures had turned the building into a crime hub, with a group of regular visitors openly smokeing dagga behind the building. Tenants fell victim to crime almost daily, with break-ins and theft of clothes from washing lines being common occurrences.
Residents grew tired of falling prey to criminals and resolved to take matters in their own hands.
They threatened to boycott paying rent and to use the money to upgrade the building’s security themselves.
In late August, First Property Trust (FPT) protocol manager Martin van Dewath said a new entrance and would be built and an access control system introduced.
Moyo said a gate for better control had already been installed.
“It is not that we did not want to pay rent. We wanted to be safe in the building.”
Rekord has been reporting extensively on the issue.
Moyo said: “The group of people who used to smoke dagga in the complex stopped doing it so after the report. We believe they saw the article became aware that their crime was known.”
He thanked Rekord for reporting on serious issues affecting the daily lives of tenants.
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