Ga-Nala is ‘housing’ alleged criminals in vacant houses
Absa said they would never ask people to stay in one of their vacant houses to look after it.
The empty houses in Ga-Nala are becoming a criminal’s paradise.
Ms Jennifer Hall vented on social media after goods were stolen from her house and allegedly found in a flat on the premises of a vacant house in Ga-Nala.
Hall said she nearly fainted when she saw the circumstances the people in the flat lived in.
“The flat is so dirty and inside we recovered all the tools stolen out of my garage,” Hall said.
They allegedly told Hall Absa Bank gave them permission to stay in the flat and look after the house.
This however is not true as Mr Mbuyiselo Khumalo, head: of collections at Absa Home Loans said they don’t permit anyone to stay in their vacant houses.
“As per our internal policies and procedures, at Absa, we do not give permission for people to occupy our houses. In the event that a property under our care is vacant and in danger of vandalism, we make use of guarding companies to manage the potential risks,” Mbuyiselo said.
The topic of the empty houses in Ga-Nala came up and residents said they are tired of not only the empty houses but also the knowledge that criminals are ‘moving’ into the houses stripping them of everything for a few rands to buy drugs.
WITBANK NEWS started reporting on the vacant Eskom houses in 2020.
Back then Eskom said they are in the process of selling off the houses as part of its strategy to dispose of non-core assets to release funds for operations.
Eskom owned 46 houses in which some measures were put in place to mitigate and minimise the risk of the houses being vandalised further.
The houses went on an open tender and most of them were sold.
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