Residents angered by derelict Berea house

RESIDENTS living in Silverton Road and surrounds are angered by the fact that no action has been taken to attend to a derelict property at 184 Silverton Road, Berea.

Residents said the property is vacant, and has been inhabited by vagrants who have also been blamed for theft at surrounding houses and flats. They said they feel unsafe, stressed and are out of pocket after having to spend thousands upgrading security.

A concerned resident said the property has no boundary walls, the front wall recently fell onto the pavement, with easy access from the road for the homeless.
“The land is filled with overgrown trees, bushes and is basically an unhygienic jungle breeding snakes, rats and cockroaches as well as bats. I recently had to have trees cut as they were damaging the fence and plumbing on my house. The house has been looted and is now a breeding ground for whoonga smokers who have now robbed everyone in the surrounding houses every day. Stealing items from expensive construction equipment to bales of toilet paper,” he said.

He said residents had upgraded security to the tune of thousands, installing beams, barbed wire and other security measures.

ALSO READ: eThekwini municipality taken to task over derelict property

The resident said the issue had been reported to the police but to no avail. “They say it is private property, and also, they are concerned about the safety of going into the house, as the roof trusses have been stolen and the roof is collapsing. Not even the municipality wants to take responsibility for this site and hasn’t cleared the pavement of rubble either,” he said.

Another resident said: “We have reported this to the police, to the Health Department, the municipality and have sent several requests to many authorities and the owners included, but to our disappointment, nothing has been done and the situation remains the same. I lost property to the value of over R100 000, my neighbours have been robbed, these criminals are jumping into our properties daily either day or night, and we are extremely fed up.”

The resident said he had spoken to the ward 27 councillor, Ernest Smith, who said he would liaise with the municipality, and Metro Police had promised to bring the issue up with that department.

Councillor Smith said there were numerous reasons why this problem occurs such as not having funds to pay rates/taxes, disinterest, declined applications or demolishment of the dwelling to build another dwelling, without minimal consideration for the surrounding community.
“The unfortunate part of when houses become abandoned, is they become a haven for homeless individuals which becomes an eyesore for people who have invested in the area as well as potential for crime to increase which falls into the ambit of other departments such as SAPS, Metro, Electricity, Water and DSW. Not only does this put strain on these departments but also that of our taxpayers who expect a certain standard of living especially in urban areas such as that of the Berea,” he said.

Responding to queries, Councillor Charmaine Clayton from ward 31, said this had been a bone of contention for some time.
“The people in Silverton Road had complained about this to a former councillor some time ago as well. Sadly people are paying very high rates and taxes and to have their homes lose value is just such a shame,” she said.

ALSO READ: New bylaw will target owners of derelict properties

The property owner said the house had been sold at the beginning of the year, however the sale had recently fallen through. He said
the property had been zoned for 14 units.
Responding to why he had done nothing to address issues on site, he said he was unable to as the deposit had been paid for the property, and he would be in violation of the sale if he did anything on the property.

Regarding the matter, Kim Woods, branch manager at Tyson Properties Morningside, said: “We at Tysons had sold the property and the sale did collapse. I am not prepared to comment on the terms of the agreement.”

Responding to queries by Berea Mail, eThekwini Municipality’s Spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the property is a private property, therefore the onus lies with the property owner to protect their property or surrender it to Council should they find them difficult to maintain and/or protect.
“The Municipality therefore, does not have the power to act in the absence of an official letter, preferably endorsed by the court of law asking for the City to intervene,” he said.

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