Charlotte Lightbody says residents first thought the appearance of the structure meant the inhabitants of the Daggafontein informal settlement were disobeying the metro’s specified borders for the settlement.
However, she recently noticed people erecting a temporary building, and when she approached the man on site, he informed her he is a builder and has been tasked with putting up a storeroom for building material.
Ward councillor for the area, Shadow Shabangu, was notified of the situation and upon investigation, was also told that the structure is being erected to store building material.
“I had to find out what was happening and contacted the person who purchased the premises,” he says.
He claims Lerato Motaung, the new owner of Erf 107, 9 Vogelstruisbult Road, instructed the man to put up a storeroom.
Struisbult resident Baps Hechter, however, claims the storeroom was erected on the wrong property.
“We own two properties and the empty stand was sold in April,” she says.
The property was sold through an agency and the Hechters claim they have never met the new owner of the property.
“We are trying to get hold of the new owner to inform her that the storeroom was erected on an open piece of land and not the sold property,” she says.
When the Addie contacted Motaung, however, she confirmed that she is the rightful owner of the property and that she owns the vacant land where the storeroom was erected.
“We have not put a fence around the storeroom, because we are still waiting for the metro to switch on the water at the premises.
“We cannot continue with the fence,” she says.
No comment was received from the metro at the time of going to print.
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