AfriForum issued a statement this morning slamming Newcastle Municipality for it’s failure to respond to the issue of communal homes in Barry Hertzog Park.
As previously reported in the Newcastle Advertiser, AfriForum officially announced its intention intervene in an effort to find a resolution to the issues faced by residents.
The statement, quoted verbatim, reads:
The shortage of student accommodation has reached crisis point in Barry Hertzog Park in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal. Thousands of students are resorting to sub-standard, illegal commune accommodation, which residents say is raising crime levels and reducing property values.
The conversion of houses to communes started in recent years as a result of increasing numbers of students enrolling at the Majuba FET College.
Chris Fourie, Provincial Coordinator for AfriForum in KwaZulu-Natal said that the Newcastle Council shows very little interest in resolving the matter.
“We are of the opinion that the Council of the Newcastle Municipality is protecting the illegal commune owners. The Municipality has a bylaw that deals specifically with home-based businesses, but they refuse to enforce it and prosecute the perpetrators. Mr Kebone Masange, the Municipal Manager also refuses to respond to our correspondence in this regard,” Fourie said.
Most of the communes transgress building, health, fire and safety by-laws. Fourie says students live in conditions of extreme squalor and it is clear that some commune owners have no regard for the health and wellbeing of the students.
AfriForum has now placed the Municipality on terms, demanding a written response on the progress made in enforcing the bylaw.
“If the Municipality fails to enforce this bylaw, we will approach the Pietermaritzburg High Court for recourse.”
The municipality was contacted this week, to provide official comment on AfriForum’s decision to intervene. As yer, no comment was forthcoming at the time of publication.
Click on the links below to read more about the issues surrounding Barry Hertzog Park, the municipality’s alleged long-term solutions, and more:
Will there be intervention for Barry Hertzog Park residents?
‘We might as well hit our heads against a brick wall’
Temperatures rise as issues remain unsolved
Ward 5 residents blame communal homes for woes
Final notice to Barry Hertzog Park residents
Barry Hertzog Park residents ‘gatvol’
Residents fed up with college delinquents
