According to the residents from the area of 11 Albertus Street, the house has been empty since the mine that owns it removed the previous occupants some time ago.
“The people left the backyard looking like a rubbish dump,” a neighbour complained to the Herald this week. She claims it has also been used as a “drug house”. She tried several times to get the relevant mine to clean it up. When her pleas fell on deaf ears, she hired someone to clean up some of the mess herself.
“The rubbish has been lying there for months and it looks like germs could grow there,” she laments. When the Herald visited the house on Monday, the yard was still in a bad state. An old mattress was propped up against the front fence and rubbish, parts of the ceiling and old tyres lay scattered through the yard.
The Herald took the neighbour’s concerns to the Merafong City Municipality on Tuesday, The local government has the legal power to act against private homeowners not adhering to health and safety regulations.
The municipal spokesperson promised that the municipality would take the matter up with the relevant mining house.
