City ‘ignores our pleas’

RESIDENTS living in areas surrounding Morningside say the city has ignored their pleas to stop the mushrooming of informal dwellings.

One of the residents living on Cope Road, who did not want to be named as he feared for his safety, said the community had made several attempts requesting the demolition of shacks being built in their area, namely Puntans Hill, near Morningside.

“There is a vacant plot they are starting to clear to build. My neighbour a few houses away confronted one of them and asked him what he was doing. Without hesitation the man told him that he was clearing the area by cutting down the trees to build shacks. We are fearing the worst,” he said.

In a letter to the city from one of the concerned residents it said their voices were not being heard and that they had no support from their ward councillors and higher authority.

The resident said as a very concerned citizen who is part of the community around the Jadhu Place in the Glade Road/cope Road, Puntans/ Roseglen area, land invasion had been developing for years and the situation had worsened.

“The community has called the land invasion number continuously and has obtained reference numbers. The problem they are experiencing at the moment is that their staff have been on strike and are unable to assist with the situation,” it read.

“They have started chopping trees and clearing up and are building their shacks overnight. We find ourselves extremely vulnerable and desperately searching for support and intervention from law enforcement to get involved,” added the resident.

Zaneen Ayob, a resident living on Hendry Road, said whenever she went to the municipality for help, she was sent on a wild goose chase.

“The shacks are being built all the time next to my home. This resulted in my boundary wall collapsing. We were now forced to rebuild it. Sewage flows on to our property from the informal settlement.

“They have built over the storm water drain. It has become so unhygienic. We have to fumigate our yard almost every three months because of the rats and cockroaches. The noise nuisance levels, especially loud music, are unbearable. My child cannot even play outside. This is a daily struggle,” she said.

Another resident living near Cope Road, who also did not want to be named, said after news got to people that the city's land invasion department was on strike, more shacks were built.

“They build through the night. We've complained but got told nothing can be done,” she said.

“The city is unable to act on private land and always advises property owners to approach the court for an interdict to remove the land invaders. The city’s land invasion unit is only able to act on municipal-owned property, and operations have been ongoing in the area,” said Mandla Nsele, deputy head of the communications unit.