Mall collapse boosts claims against Singh
Long fight over ‘defective workmanship’
TUESDAY’S mall collapse in Tongaat, north of Durban, has given frustrated residents of Phoenix more ammunition in their battle against the developer.
The Phoenix Residents’ Association intends using the tragedy to strengthen its case against Jay Singh.
The controversial developer, the owner of the Woodglaze housing complex in Phoenix, is also linked to Rectangle Property Investments, owners of the building that caved in on Tuesday evening, killing one construction worker and injuring 29 others.
The half-built Tongaat mall had been at the centre of a legal battle with the city over building permission.
Ramesh Luckychund, the attorney who acts for the residents’ association, confirmed he had been instructed to go to court and use Tuesday’s mall collapse to underline the “deplorable condition” of the Woodglaze housing complex.
The application, which is expected in court this week, will ask that Woodglaze and its security companies be prevented from assaulting and evicting tenants in addition to highlighting “a history of defective workmanship”.
It also requests that tenants not be
obliged to pay rent unless their flats are repaired.
Luckychund said: “We have been hopping and jumping about the defective workmanship in regards to the complex . . . It seems that it takes a massive disaster like this to get the relevant parties to take note.”
But Singh’s spokesman, Mervin Reddy, said the flats and the shopping complex should not be linked.
“At the end of the day, it is two different companies. You can’t blacklist one company based on the default of an- other company,” said Reddy.
In a long-running court case, the Phoenix Residents’ Association has asked that the eThekwini municipality review the entire Woodglaze complex process — from land purchase to construction.
But on Friday, Singh’s wife, Shireen Annamalay, filed court papers denying that the process had been flawed.
She said she had received all the necessary documentation and permissions to purchase the land and build on it. She also denied hiring security companies to harass or assault residents, saying they had been employed purely to collect outstanding rent. The case was postponed to Friday.
Meanwhile, Reddy said that Singh had met the family of the worker killed in Ton- gaat to make arrangements for today’s funeral — which the company was paying for.
“We have visited the injured in hospital and seen to whatever they wanted. They have toiletries, clothing ... They are all in private hospitals were they are taken care of at the best level we can afford,” said Reddy.