Construction woes anger Edenvale residents
"Mr Mncube directly intimidated me when he approached me with his face about two inches in front of me and shaking his forefinger at me. After stepping back he said if I had asked a certain question to his wife she would have 'klapped' me."
Building construction in Fourth Avenue in Edenvale has neigbouring residents fuming, following a meeting with the appointed council members of town planning.
Mr Kosi Mncube, the owner of the house under construction, said an open meeting was held with certified invites to the house.
According to Ms Bridgit Panebianco, a direct neighbour to the building, the construction has been disrupting her and other residents.
Her concerns included the safety and well-being of her young children.
She said the wall at her swimming pool has been affected by the rubble from the construction, which has pressed against her boundary wall.
The main concerns of residents also included the legitimacy of the building plans and whether the plans comply with the regulations of a residential area.
Mr Mncube said everyone showed up and they managed to work matters out the right way with the registered plans.
He also said his building plans had been approved and the construction will continue.
Contradicting the house owner’s statement, resident Ms Sue Kelemen, a complainant, said the meeting was futile in that Mr Mncube failed to answer her questions.
“Mr Mncube directly intimidated me when he approached me with his face about two inches in front of me and shaking his forefinger at me. After stepping back he said if I had asked a certain question to his wife she would have ‘klapped’ me,” said Ms Kelemen.
She said she was unsatisfied with the outcome of the meeting and left because nothing was achieved and her questions were not answered.
Mr Mncube said everyone will have their likes and dislikes as well as their own opinions.
“There are certain things that were discussed in terms of what we are allowed to do, and if we have failed, we are fixing it. The rubble issue has also been rectified and is no longer too high,” said Mr Mncube.
The ward 18 councillor, Clr Heather Hart, said Edenvale is indeed lucky to still have a fairly good degree of bylaw enforcement and thus when the owner of the property started building without building plans, the building inspectorate intervened quickly and building was duly halted and the plans submitted for approval.
In addition, she said this was not before the residents in the surrounding area had already been subjected to the property being rented out to a large number of people without the necessary permissions or densification zonings.
Clr Hart said residents should be extremely vigilant when it comes to building operations on adjacent properties, and to ask for an investigation urgently.
“Far too often I have experienced complaints when it is fact far too late to do anything about it.
“No one is above the law and we do not have one set of rules for some areas and another set of rules for another.
“The law must be applied freely and fairly, without fear or favour, and it is imperative that all cases of illegal land use, be it residential or commercial, are reported urgently so that they can be investigated accordingly,” she said.
The NEWS requested comment from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality by October 29. No comment has been received.
