Westbury residents up in arms over run-down flats
Water damage, electrical hazards their main concerns
THE SMELL of burning is strong. Paint on the walls and the roof is peeling off. The floors are wet and the tiles are cracking. There is a black patch next to the main switch and some of the plugs.
“It’s all from water damage. Most people have had to turn off their electricity, some electrical boxes are making crackling sounds like they’re about to explode.
“Many of us can’t cook because the water never stops leaking,” said Westbury resident Naslee Edmunds.
At least nine different apartment buildings housing hundreds of Westbury residents have become a nightmare to live in, with water leaks visible in many of the bathrooms and kitchens, and some of the old piping in the walls in a state of disrepair.
“I wouldn’t wish it on a dog to live like this,” Edmunds said as she demonstrated how her husband Craig had to devise makeshift overflow pipes after a pipe burst in their flat.
The makeshift plastic pipes flow into two buckets that have to be constantly emptied.
“Craig couldn’t go to work today and I don’t know if he’ll be able to go tomorrow, because he spends all night emptying the buckets,” Edmunds said.
Many residents have turned off the main switches in their flats and can’t use their stoves or appliances because of water collecting in the walls and at the plug points.
“People can die, they can get electrocuted. I can’t cook for my family, it’s having a major effect on all of us,” Edmunds explained.
“The children can’t study in the dark, they can’t eat and we can’t even use our bathrooms because we have to keep turning off the water. And even when we do, it still carries on leaking,” she said.
Edmunds said they had made several calls to local councillors, to no avail. “Sometimes it gets so bad that we have to call in our own plumbers. We have no choice if the councillors won’t help.”
“They keep telling us to use water sparingly because we’re in a drought, but how can we do this when they’re allowing the water to flow unchecked,” Edmunds added.
Conditions in the two buildings have apparently steadily worsened over the past few years, but are now at a point where some flats have become uninhabitable.
Millicent Tibbetts and her ailing husband Desmond du Plessis have had to move out of their upper-floor flat because of constant flooding.
When The Star team walked into their flat, the floors were soaking wet and large moisture bubbles on the ceiling continued to drip, with some on the verge of bursting.
“We can’t stay here, we can’t cook, we’ve turned off the water and electricity.
“Desmond is unwell and weak from his treatments. He has just come out of hospital; what if he tries to get out of bed and slips or falls?
“We can’t live like this, it’s not fair,” Tibbetts said.
Tying towels around the leaking pipes, using face clothes, pieces of material and in one place even a stuffed toy, residents have had to make their own quick fixes as pipes in the corridors and on the outside of the buildings are always breaking, leaking and bursting.
Carrying his young grandchild, Selwyn Spadonie said there were also concerns that the infrastructure within the flats was weakening because of the water damage and continued exposure.
“We are worried that the nonstop water leaks are dam- aging the floors, walls and roofs, and that it’s causing everything to deteriorate.
“What happens if a roof collapses? There are children and elderly people living here,” he pointed out.
Spa donie added that many of the drains were blocked, and when it rained, some areas were flooded.
He pointed to an outside drain that he had unblocked and fixed himself to stop it flooding when it rains.
“It’s not safe, and the city hasn’t done anything to unblock the drains, so I had to do something myself. Children can drown in the water. After it rains it gets very dirty and the children play in it.
“Now that I’ve opened it up, the water has a place to go.” Some residents, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted that they didn’t pay rent because they were unemployed.
“If we had the money to pay, we would; it’s not that we don’t want to, it’s that we can’t,” one resident said.
Another resident argued: “We know it makes it more difficult to fix things if there’s no money, but things can’t carry on like this. Even when many of us were paying rent, the council didn’t maintain the building, so what’s the difference now?”
Ward councillor Susan Stewart said she has been in many meetings with the city about the situation. “The City of Joburg is looking into the problem. There are plans afoot but I don’t want to go into detail because we don’t want to be seen to be promising or quoted as making promises we can’t keep,” she said.
“We understand the residents’ frustrations and are aware that the problems are numerous.”
Many residents admit they are not paying rent