Danville residents protest against Wendy houses on open field

First there was a sink house, then a brick house and now multiple wooden Wendy houses have sprung up on an open field in Danville in Pretoria West, causing concern among residents.

Earlier this week City of Tshwane officials and stakeholders met at Danville Farm 599-JR to inspect the wooden houses in the field.

Concerned residents say they have written to the MMC for human settlements, the MMC for utilities and the councillor about the open field and the suspicious activity they have seen in the past few months.

Worried open area will turn into informal settlement

The residents say they were promised a park for the children of the community to play in but were now concerned the open area will turn into an informal settlement. This will bring down the values of their properties.

One of the residents, speaking anonymously, said they first noticed a bakkie and a Wendy house in the field across the road at the beginning of July.

Another resident, Beth Smith, said the first sink house on the field appeared last October but was quickly removed by the authorities.

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“In March we noticed little brick houses being built but this was stopped. And then came the wooden houses,” she said.

Community shocked to see house pop up

Wynand Bezuidenhout, who lives nearby, was shocked to see how many houses had popped up on the field. “It must have happened in a week,” he said.

“Do we just break down the house – that’s someone’s money.

“It could be a buffer between our community and the informal settlement on the other side of the mountain,” he added.

City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the city has started an audit of the illegally occupied land in Danville following a court order.

The city took ownership of the land on 15 May.

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