Vacant house illegally occupied
A house that has been vacant in Constantia Park have neighbours up in arms, claiming that it has become a safe haven for criminals.
For almost a decade, a dilapidated vacant house in the upmarket Constantia Park has turned into not only an eye-sore, but also a safe haven for criminals and other dubious characters.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and neighbours are now demanding answers from the Tshwane metro about the ownership of the property on the corner of André Murray and Andries Strydom streets.
DA mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga met with Constantia Park residents on Friday morning at the vacant house to discuss the problem as well as about other service delivery problems in the east.
Msimanga said the metro had left this situation unattended for too long.
“The failure of the municipality to track down the original owners of the property was unacceptable.
“If procedures were followed and the legal issues were in place, there should be no reasons why the owner could not be served with documentation and the house could not be sold,” Msimanga said.
He said reports indicated that the house belonged to an alleged drug dealer who was arrested and was now serving time in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said this was not only a title deed issue but a safety issue about which residents feel very strongly.
Msimanga told residents that he would investigate and provide feedback in a week’s time.
A security guard who seemed to be living at the house for over five years without any supervision or employer, made this situation a strange one, said local Rudie Verheijen.
The state of the property had deteriorated badly over the past years he said, adding that for as long as he could remember, the situation remained the same.
“We have even cleaned the outside of the house ourselves as the community in order to make our areas more presentable,” Verheijen said.
The security guard, Edwin Chabalala, who after numerous attempts by residents to draw his attention, eventually came out of the house and answered a few of the residents’ questions.
Chabalala said the house belonged to a lady who worked as teacher at a local school and he was guarding the vacant house for her.
Asked why the house remained in such an unsanitary state, Chabalala remained mum.
He however gave reasons why he regularly had visitors to a house that he claimed, was permanently locked.
“I bring my friend over because sometimes this place does not feel safe,” he said.
Another neighbour, Pearl Moos, said the situation with the house up with people.
“At one point when the police raided the house, 25-people were apprehended,” Moos said.
She said this was an ongoing problem that needed serious attention as criminals who target the Constantia Park area used the house as a hide-out.
DA ward 83 councillor Francois Bekker said this matter had gone on for far too long.
He pointed to an un-maintained ditch right on the pavement of the house and said a car could easily fall into the hole.
Bekker confirmed that the house was rumoured to have belonged to a drug dealer who was convicted somewhere in the DRC.
Another resident, Stephen van der Merwe said this particular property remained a problem. He said someone somehow had fixed tiles on the roof which were broken.
He said the house could be a valued asset but paperwork regarding the house was hard to find.
Van der Merwe mentioned that at a certain point last year there had been a fire burning inside the house although the security guard Chabalala said the house remained locked – even to him.
Documentation indicated that the house belonged to a Nitohe’ berta Cicileo Silver for the past five years.
An enquiry has been sent to the metro and update with their response would be issued.
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