Sandbags against squatters
An elderly Johannesburg man living next door to a suburban house hijacked by squatters has boarded up his windows and barricaded its doors with sandbags.
Bradley Young said his 77-year-old father, who is too scared to be identified, had sought medical treatment for stress after several years in which the squatters threw human waste into his Ferndale, Randburg, garden and subjected him to a barrage of noise.
“He feels very unsafe in his home, he won’t let anyone go into the back garden, which is full of refuse thrown over the walls. At night he barricades himself in,” said Young.
“We don’t know what to do any more. We’ve owned the house since 1998 and I’m sure nobody will buy it now. I drive past the house twice a day to look in on him.”
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he had found people in his garden cutting down trees for firewood. Bags of excrement had been flung over the wall. The water and electricity to the squatters’ house was cut off a year ago.
Mike Wood, a councillor for the Randburg neighbourhood, said he had received a number of complaints about the squatters’ house in the four years since the owner left. He said neighbours were worried about their safety.
“There have been a number of issues with antisocial behaviour. We’ve done a deed search and know who the house belongs to, but we cannot trace them.
“It doesn’t make sense for anyone to leave a property like this. I feel for the residents.”
Wood said he had asked city officials for assistance. “It’s difficult to resolve because if the city gets a court order to remove the people, they need to find them alternative accommodation,” he said.
When the Sunday Times visited the house this week, it stood in stark contrast to the neat houses surrounding it. The remnants of an electric fence lay in tatters alongside the wall, the garden was overgrown, and broken beer bottles and other waste were strewn along the pavement. Several dilapidated vehicles were parked on the property.
One of the residents of the house said he had lived there for three years after travelling from Limpopo to look for work. Thirteen people shared the accommodation, he said.
“We were paying some guy for rent but we stopped when the electricity was cut. We realised that this was not actually his home. I paid rent only for three months, R500 a room,” said the man. The police had come several times in response to complaints about noise coming from the house, he said.
Another man living in the house, who was
We’ve owned the house since 1998 and I’m sure nobody will buy it now
Bradley Young
originally from Kimberley, said he moved in 16 months ago after losing his job. He is sending money to his wife and three children in Delareyville.
A Zimbabwean man said he had lived in the property for two years and owned a mo
bile motor mechanic company.
City of Johannesburg spokesperson Lucky Sindane said the house was being investigated. “If the owner is not found, the property will [be] released on tender for redevelopment.”