Family of eight forced to sleep in garage of the property they own
WINDSOR – In a meeting with the estate agency, the property seller, Ward 98 councillor Beverley Weweje and Bangi on 4 July, it was revealed that the current occupant only owned five per cent of the property.
Purchasing your first property after years of hard work and dedication to saving for it is usually a time for celebration that brings a feeling of accomplishment.
However, this is not the case for one Windsor East family of eight who have been forced to sleep in the cold garage of a property they have legally purchased on Countesses Avenue. The owner’s relatives refuse to move over a disputed ownership issue with their family and an alleged hatred for foreigners.
The people currently inside the property refuse to move and are squatting. They say this is their place, and they are not moving. They have also told me that they’re sick and tired of foreigners purchasing properties in Windsor,” said Cosmans Bangi, the new owner of the property. Bangi moved with his family to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has since established a successful fabric and clothing manufacturing business.
He said the property was owned by an elderly person who had passed away, leaving her property to her children in her will. The main beneficiary of the deceased estate put the property on the market with a reputable estate agency. A family member and his girlfriend were occupying the property at the time of the owner’s death. Bangi approached the agency after seeing the property advertised for sale, viewed it, and purchased it in cash. When all the paperwork was completed and early occupation was allowed to take place, the current occupants of the house refused to budge, and Bangi was left without a place for him and his family to stay in. The Randburg Sun has seen the paperwork which confirms Bangi as the rightful owner of the home.
Bangi said the property was in the final stages of being put fully into his name, with only an electrical compliance certificate remaining to be issued which he has been prevented access from obtaining. “On 14 June, we moved into the property to sort out these final stages, and the squatters agreed to let us move into the garage, with a rental of R4 500. I thought they were aiming to cooperate.”From that time until now, we were technically held hostage in the garage. There is no water or toilet, and we could not go outside as the [current occupant] brought vicious dogs onto the property. If anyone of our family members wanted to leave the garage, they had to scream to be escorted out,” he claimed.
The current occupant eventually told him that he, his girlfriend as well as a second man that is living there would leave the property if he paid them money to look for another place. “I asked him ‘how much?’ and he said R10 000. I said that we did not have that much money, so we offered him R5 000,” said BangiHe handed over the money and apparently the occupants still refused to move.”We have seen many disturbing things that happen at the property. We know that [the current occupant] and his girlfriend are on drugs, and we have seen many women and men coming and going as the property is used for prostitution,” alleged Bangi.
In a meeting with the estate agency, the property seller, Ward 98 councillor Beverley Weweje and Bangi on 4 July, it was revealed that the current occupant only owned five per cent of the property, but insisted he would not move claiming that the property was rightfully his.”All the people came to the meeting to let [the current occupant] know that they were now living there illegally and they should leave. Everything turned on its head,” said Bangi.
Also, present at the meeting were seven EFF members with their lawyers,” Bangi said. He had no idea how the EFF became involved.
“We all felt incredibly intimidated. We were told in simple terms by the EFF, that they are tired of foreigners, and they were upset that the banks were giving money to foreigners. They did not even realise that this was a cash deal.
“Everyone involved in the late estate had signed a document to say that they would leave the premises once the deal was through. But this was not the case.”
Bangi runs his fabric business, Cosman’s Couture Studio from his office in Blairgowrie.”We hope to engage in an eviction process, but we are worried that this will take a long time, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. “Currently, we are outside in the cold, and we don’t know what to do. My family and especially my children are traumatised by the whole event. We hope that someone out there in the community can help us to get this issue sorted out,” concluded Bangi.
