Dirty dens of destruction
Abandoned buildings offer criminals bases
Drug peddlers and addicts, vagrants, prostitutes, house robbers and scrap metal thieves are being provided with safe bases from which to operate in the many dilapidated and abandoned houses scattered throughout Buffalo City.
Even crumbling, deserted mansions in the city ’s most affluent suburbs are affected and residents fear that the homes, and the activities taking place in them, pose a very real danger to their neighbours.
DispatchLive spent several weeks examining properties first-hand in Abbotsford,Amalinda, Baysville, Beacon Bay, BonnieDoon, Nahoon, Parkside, Quigney, Selborne, Stirling, Stoney Drift and Vincent.
Some had been abandoned after disasters such as a fire, while others had simply been left to slowly fall apart.
Most of the abandoned properties showed signs of being taken over by vagrants in the form of graffiti, broken bottles, used condoms and other rubbish spread over the floors.
In Old Transkei Road, Nahoon, a once grand home has been left vacant for several years and neighbours believe it is used by various criminals for nefarious activities.
These days there is little more than an empty shell. Windows and doors have long since disappeared and the interior has been completely gutted.
Even the wall sockets have been ripped out to get the evervaluable copper wires from the wall and the encroaching bush is spilling inside through the back door.
A neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said the old building was frequently used by squatters, which caused them serious problems.
“At night, you can hear them walking past the windows and breaking stuff inside,” she said.
The neighbour said they could smell burning copper from the building, indicating the presence of cable thieves.
Buildings in similarly gutted conditions can be seen all around the city.
In Currie Street, Quigney, the collapsed husk of an old warehouse continues to cast its imposing shadow over the local businesses across the road.
When reporters inspected the site, they noticed piles of glass bottles in the bush around the entrance.
Even more were seen inside, along with piles of other
rubbish.
This warehouse is within direct sight of another abandoned building, on Tutton Terrace,which has been overtaken by the surrounding bush.
Another Quigney home was gutted by fire and the burnt-out shell, with no front wall, is strewn with rubbish and scattered furniture,but with visible signs that the property is still inhabited.
Some of the buildings were apparently abandoned after the owners began construction and
then for whatever reason left the property unfinished, such as one visited in Beach Road, Nahoon.
According to ward 18 councillor Jason McDowell, the building had stood empty for years even before he became a councillor in2018.
“It was brought to my attention by someone who used to be the next-door neighbour.
“The place was overgrown. The vagrants were going in and out.”
When DispatchLIVE visited on Friday, the building appeared to be secured behind a large wall and locked gate, which was a big step up from some of the other properties visited.
Immediately adjacent to one of East London’s more exclusive schools lies another abandoned building, covered by graffiti.
The site is believed by many to be used by vagrants and drug dealers.
In Amalinda, the skeleton of an unfinished church, set in long, unkempt grass, interrupts the suburban architecture.
Sarie Visser, who lives across from the structure, said the unfinished building was supposed to be a new church for a local ministry. “There was a tent there before and they made a hell of a noise.”
Visser said builders had spent six months erecting the metal support beams and installing the roof before the project was abandoned.
“They haven’t done anything there the last three years.”
The site used to be a popular gathering place for squatters, though Visser said the police had managed to eventually chase them away.
The National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act of 1977 says that if the erection of a building is not proceeded with for more than three months, the municipality has the authority to serve a notice to owners compelling them to complete construction within a specified time frame.
If the owner fails to comply, the municipality is then authorised to demolish the building and, in some cases, recover the costs from the owner.
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said the municipality did have a system in place for abandoned properties.
“If there is debt outstanding, the registered owner must make an arrangement with the city in terms of the credit control policy to settle the debt.
“In the event that there is a sale of the property, the municipality can recover the debt through the Rates Clearance Certificate.”
In the event that a property is declared abandoned or dilapidated, Ngwenya said, the municipality would serve a notice to the owners. However, in some cases, the municipality might be unable to trace the relevantowners .
“In such cases, the BCMM legal services department will have to recommend the correct legal route to be pursued,” he said.
If neighbouring residents had problems with nearby abandoned properties, Ngwenya said, they should contact the municipality.