West house owner still missing
“Legally nothing can be done to the house without the owner's consent.”
The owner of an empty property in the west of Pretoria has still not been found.
Since Rekord reported about the problem at the beginning of the month, the metro has struggled to find the owner of the house in Van der Berg Street, said local councillor, pastor James Ndlovu.
“There isn’t much the metro can do to the property at this moment until the owner has been found,” he said.
Reports that the house would be repaired for the homeless, are untrue, he added.
“Legally nothing can be done to the house without the owner’s consent,” he said.
Presently there are two people temporarily living in the dilapidated house, said Community Reaction Unit member, Joey Botes.
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According to Botes they have started to repair and clean the house.
“We kept chasing them away, but they just kept coming back every time,” she said.
“Then we told them that they could stay on condition that they keep the place tidy.”
“We didn’t think they would do it, but after we went back, the place was cleaned up and repaired,” she said.
Botes previously told Rekord that the owner of the property passed away years ago.
Since then criminals began to steal equipment from the house.
“They started to steal the palisade and then they stole the tin sheets on the roof,” she said.
“Years went by and now the house is almost completely stripped down – even the window frames and doors are gone.”
She said the building was not just an eyesore to the community, but also contributed to crime in the area.
“The building attracts criminals to further raid it and then other properties also look appealing,” she said.
Botes said the Community Reaction Unit monitored the building on a regular basis.
“Until the owner can be found, we have to make sure no profanities are taking place there,” she said.
Ndlovu said it was sometimes difficult to find the owner of a specific property.
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He said residents have to secure an empty property, especially when they know it will remain empty for a while.
“If a property is left empty, it quickly becomes a shelter for vagrants or a place for illegal dumping,” he said.
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