“The community of Avondale are paying for a bitter feud between neighbours who have both subsequently moved on with their lives and left us to deal with the ruins,” said Avondale Residents’ Forum chairman Riaan Verster.
Avondale residents’ pleas to the KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) regarding an unfinished house have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears.
The house on the corner of Avondale Road and Joshua Close in Ballito is said to pose a security risk to surrounding residents as it provides shelter to vagrants, a place for criminals to hide and at times hosts drug exchanges, bon fires and alcohol consumption.
Construction of the house came to a stand still in 2003 when a legal dispute ensued between the owner of the house, Themba Ndlovu and a neighbour, Trevor Abbott. Ndlovu’s house was said have taken up some of Abbott’s land.
Eleven years, a court order, a petition and multiple letters of complaint to the municipal manager later, nothing has changed.
Ndlovu told the Courier in a previous article (‘Unfinished house a threat to the community’, Courier, October 31, 2014, ) that the municipality was at fault for approving his first plans.
Ndlovu said he submitted a new plan last year but is still waiting for a response from KDM.
In the interim Ndlovu has started building another house elsewhere.
Avondale Residents’ Forum chairman Riaan Verster presented a signed petition to ward six councillor Colin Marsh.
He in turn (three times between August and November last year) handed in to the KDM municipal manager, Nhlanhla Mdakane, EXCO speaker Thulani Khuluse and mayer Ricardo Mthembu and had their secretaries and receptionists sign for it.
Marsh said he was very frustrated by the lack of cooperation.
“Once again we cannot get the municipal manager to firstly just respond and acknowledge the petition. There is no implementation of a valid court order. Is the municipality in capable hands or not? I, Colin Marsh, for one does not think so.”
Verster said the fact that KDM cannot give the Avondale Residents’ Forum the courtesy of a response to their third letter was a serious and saddening indictment against its capacity to provide services to the communities that pay the salaries of its officials.
“The municipality is quick to run to court when somebody opens a school that they don’t approve of but ignore the plight of the Avondale rates and tax payers,” said Verster.
Verster sought pro bono legal advice and said he was advised that the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act (103 of 1977) said if construction of a building stands still for more than three months, the local municipality may order the owner to resume construction and finish within a specified period of time.
The Act further said that the permission to build granted by the municipality shall lapse after 12 months from the date on which it was granted if the construction has not commenced or continued.
At the time of going to press neither Mdakane, Khuluse, Mthembu or KDM spokesperson Sifiso Xulu had responded to any of the Courier‘s questions.
