A RESIDENCE in McDonald Avenue, Glenwood, which is being occupied by more than 30 people requires urgent intervention by authorities says resident, Mario George.
The house, which has been highlighted previously in Berea Mail, has been raided on a number of occasions by Metro Police. According to Morgan Subramoney of Metro Police, preliminary investigations revealed that the building is a deceased estate that appears to have been hijacked and is being run by a supervisor.
George said recently a woman living in the house left four to six buckets of human waste outside the property which was surrounded by rubble and rubbish.
“The stench was horrendous. I am concerned as there are children living there. There is no running water or electricity at the house. A neighbour sells them water, which I think is illegal, and at one time she also sold them electricity via an extension cord. The house is in a bad state. I feel something needs to be done about it once and for all,” he said. George previously reported noise disturbances and fights between tenants at the property.
Heather Rorick, chairperson of Bulwer Safety and Urban Regeneration Forum, said in spite of her reporting this property on many occasions to the necessary departments, and in spite of Metro Police and SAPS having visited the property numerous times in response to various complaints, nothing had changed.
“In fact, the situation of this property has got worse. After the last time we reported this I asked to be kept informed on the progress of this property, but sadly I have heard nothing back from the department. The immediate neighbours to this property have all had enough. I have been sent photos of children as young as four and five who are living in this house, running around in the yard and smoking cigarette ends. This house apparently as reported to me, has people up and down all times of day and night, with cars coming and going. This has been a problem for way too long now. It is not fair on the other residents in this area,” she said.
Anand Maharaj from Metro Police said a raid had been carried out on the house last week, Wednesday. He said there were 35 tenants living on the property with only one toilet in the house. He said the police noted they were getting electricity from the neighbour.
“Five foreigners were detained at Umbilo for not having documentation. Outside the property was clean and there was no sign of any dumping. Previously we had charged the tenant for illegal dumping. Other departments will have to deal with the dilapidated building as we don’t have any mandate to deal with this,” he said.
