Vacant home stirs questions
An Eskom-owned house in Farrarmere has been vacant for almost nine months, after former residents were told it had been sold.
“We moved out at the end of August, because Eskom informed Pam Golding that the place was sold and we had a month to move out,” said the former tenant, Ricky Swanepoel.
“We had been living there for about three years already.”
The Swanepoels were told that the new residents would occupy the Garret Street house by September 1, but current neighbours said there were no signs of anyone moving in.
“The house was sold, but the process had to be restarted,” the communications and stakeholder management practitioner at Eskom, Ntombi Futhi Hlophe, explained.
“The house was sold to Eskom employees, however, it was decided that the initial process of appointing occupants was unfair.
“So we are in the process of appointing a new agent (from Eskom) who will decide who the new occupants will be.”
However, the vacant home is causing distress to other residents in the area.
“The grass is very long, the pool is dirty and we had our first house break-in after 38 years,” said one of the residents, who asked to remain anonymous.
The burglary took place during the first week of April.
“We know the thieves came from the vacant house, because their footprints on our sand came from that direction,” the resident said.
Hlophe said the grass was supposed to be cut monthly, but someone from Eskom was sent to cut it after the City Times enquired about it.
“Once new residents are appointed, they will move into the vacant house,” Hlophe said.
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