Desperate for a roof over their heads
'The food that I had in my freezer has defrosted three times.'
A tenant in a complex in Aureus said she is being harassed by her landlord for not paying rent due to a relative having lost his job.
In an exclusive interview with the Herald, an emotional and desperate Cynthia Roux, 53, said this mistreatment has caused her already poor health to deteriorate.
Roux said she moved into the same complex as the close relative in February, so that he could take care of her. “At first, the relative paid
R2 200 for rent but he lost his job and I continued paying R1 000 from my disability grant,” Roux said.
She said this is where the problem started with her landlord, who said the money was not enough.
“He said I should give the full amount plus arrears,” Roux added.
She said if she had to pay the full amount, she would be left without food.
Then they forced me to sign a letter, so that I could commit myself to paying an amount I couldn’t afford. They threatened to evict me from my flat,” she said.
Roux said electricity was also switched off during this time – something that has affected her health badly.
“I am on chronic medication, I use an asthma pump and a steroid pump for my lungs, and I had cancer removed from back recently. Due to all this, I was gravely ill and had to stay in bed for an entire weekend.
“The food that I had in my freezer has defrosted three times and now everything has gone bad. But we still have to eat it, as we have no money to buy other food,” the emotional mother said.
Roux said after her relative was evicted from his flat, she took him in, but said the embarrassing thing is that they now have to share her double bed.
You know, sometimes you’d wish you were dead rather than sitting with this pain every day. We are all desperate for a roof over our heads but we don’t have the money to pay, and we are treated this way,” Roux said.
According to Phillip Montshiwa, spokesperson for the Rand West City Local Municipality, a landlord has to give a month’s notice only if they have a lease agreement and both parties clearly understand the terms of reference.
“That has to be done with the eviction order granted by the court of law,” Montshiwa added.
