City Council workers have been found to be illegally subletting their houses in Golden Harvest Park, in North Riding
All houses in the park, save for a drug rehabilitation centre, are owned by the City of Joburg and the Joburg Property Company is the custodian of these houses.
These houses are let to council workers.
When Randburg Sun newspaper, a property company project manager and Ward 101 Councillor Ralf Bittkau investigated the park on 09 April, they found men, women and dozen children living in clusters of houses on one end of the park. It is alleged that these people pay council officials monthly rentals to live in these houses, which is illegal.
A metro police officer openly admitted that he was subletting houses to eight people, who were paying him R500 per month.
It was also found that he was farming mielies in the park. Bittkau and the property company project manager informed that, he must remove the meilies as soon as they have been harvested.
In another cluster of about eight houses a woman living there said the council official rented out the houses to them, had died and three or four people were now living in each of his houses for free. It was also found that some of these houses were running electricity cables illegally.
Bittkau was unhappy with the property company’s lack of maintenance of the houses in the park
“A few years ago there were four houses condemned but they were not torn down [by the property company],” he said.
“As far as I am concerned the property company are slum lords.”
The property company project manager did not speak to the Randburg Sun.
Joburg Property Company spokesperson Brian Mahlangu was phoned repeatedly and emailed, but he did not respond by the time of going to print.
A meeting is scheduled soon between Bittkau, the property company project manager and Friends of Golden Harvest Park, where a course of action will be discussed.
Details: Golden Harvest Park 011 712 6600, Ward 101 Councillor Ralf Bittkau 084 411 6796, Joburg Property Company, Friends of Golden Harvest Park fghp@absamail.co.za
