When is this nightmare going to stop?

In response to the article placed in the COURIER (April 10, page 3 – Burnt house residents feel neglected) from the residence point of view.

There is a house in our suburb Thulisa Park, Johannesburg South, (No 16 Austen Street) which was abandoned by the owner. It used to belong to Chinese people who traded with imported goods from China. The house was paid in cash by the previous owner.

The property was hijacked after the owner was deported back to China in 2014. The owner never paid rates and taxes, water and electricity to the City of Johannesburg. Still owing the Council over R180 000.

In 2015 we as residents in Thulisa Park reported the following issue to the environmental health department and it is still not resolved.

On May 22, 2017, the matter was escalated again to the environmental health practitioners informing them that the dwellers are making huge fires next to the house.

In June 2017 the matter was escalated to Region F’s environmental health practitioner who went to inspect the property and wrote a report to the Section 79 committee with the following findings:

The following contraventions were identified:

• No water and electricity supply, dwellers connected a hosepipe to the outside water meter.

• Fire wood is used as a form of energy.

• No temporary storage for the waste, waste dumped in the yard and burned.

• Broken window panes – they have put up cardboards.

• Shacks are now erected in the yard.

• Overcrowding observed.

• Building is occupied by homeless people.

The matter was also escalated to DA Clr Faeeza Chame in May 2017. Nothing happened after June 2017.

Current status

In late October 2017, the entire house burnt down due to the dwellers making huge fires next to the property. Clr Faeeza Chame visited the property.

There is no water, no sanitation, poor waste disposal and overcrowding, which causes a huge environmental health risk. Next door neighbours complain of cockroaches and mice. This is a huge environmental hazard.

There is an electrical substation next to the property. Every week our electricity goes down due to tampering with the substation.

We are trying to sell our property, but due to this house, nobody wants to buy any property in the street.

We as residents of Thulisa Park appeal to the City of Johannesburg to please step in and sell the property on auction to recover their outstanding electricity and water charges to the property that was never paid to the Council. The owner cannot be traced. The property was abandoned. The City of Johannesburg needs to take charge of the situation.

Our only hope now is mayor Herman Mashaba taking charge. We know he is trying his utmost best to revive the City of Johannesburg and address houses and buildings that have been hijacked.

We are not requesting this because we are heartless … but at the same time, we as residents who pay their rates and taxes also have the right to ensure that the environment we live in are clean and hazard free.

The City’s by-laws state that owners of vacant or undeveloped properties are compelled by law to ensure that their properties are kept in a clean, sanitary and tidy condition, free of health risks, nuisances and hazards, safety and security risks and fire hazards.

The City council is, on the other hand, obligated by law to ensure that its area of jurisdiction is maintained in a clean, sanitary and tidy state, free of health risks, nuisances and hazards, safety and security risks and fire hazards.

Resident in Austen Street

Also Read:

Ward 56 Clr Michael Crichton response on burnt houses

Vacant stand a threat

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