The fears of Pretoria West residents who thought an informal settlement was mushrooming in the area have been allayed.
Speaking to Rekord anonymously, residents said they had been afraid that another illegal squatter camp was forming in Andeon, and the piles of garbage growing at a certain property were giving off a smell and creating fears of a pest problem.
The record was, however, recently set straight when it emerged that it was, in fact, people using the private property for recycling purposes.
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The owner of the property, around the corner from the Zandfontein cemetery, Aron Abram said that the people were there with his permission.
“They were previously using metro grounds in Lady Selbourne,” he said.
“After they were evicted, I gave them permission to use my property on condition that they keep it in a controlled environment.”
Abram said that this was his way to “contribute to society to empower others”.
“They are making an honest living and could have easily turned to crime to generate an income,” he said.
“We are living in a very harsh climate.”
He was letting them use the property free of charge.
Local ward councillor Frik van Wyk said that the recyclers were also recently brought to his attention.
“Because illegal squatting remains an issue in the west of Pretoria, some tend to jump to the quickest conclusion,” he said.
“Once you let one person live somewhere, there is always the chance that a squatter camp can form.”
He said the moment a form of a roof was erected as a house, a court order was needed to evict them.
Van Wyk said he supported recycling, but added that the metro needed to make these types of facilities available.
“They are not supposed to sit under a tree and do their work, but rather at the correct facilities,” he said.
“People need places to work and there is a great need for it.”
Owner of the recycling business, Simon Mulhaui, told Rekord that there were no people staying on the property and that it was only used for their work purposes.
“We only recycle plastic and card boxes,” he said.
“The sorting of the garbage also takes place on the property, which could be what residents saw as garbage.
“After we are done sorting, we throw away the garbage we do not use.”
He said trolley pushers brought their garbage to the site.
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