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CRIME: COUNCIL PROPERTY CAUSES SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
Heideveld’s horror house LUZUKO ZINI
A council-owned property allegedly being used as a drug den has Heideveld residents demanding intervention. Locals living in Badsberg Close have mounting anxiety about their safety and health as they say gangsters use the house to smoke drugs and the property is in a deplorable state. Graffiti covers the interior walls of the house and mountains of dirt are piled in every room. Windows have been boarded shut and even the door no longer hangs on its hinges. A resident, who asks not to be named, says he is living in constant fear. He says the property has been in a bad state for many years but over the past months the situation has become even worse. “Every day there are different people coming to the property and they sit here all day smoking drugs. They are gangsters who use the house as their own,” he fumes. Another resident, who also did not want to named, says she is worried about the health risk. “When you pass the property you can smell the stench coming
SITE: Drug addicts, gangsters and petty thieves are apparently making themselves comfortable in this council house. from the place. There is no toilet in the house so people just urinate anywhere and there are faeces lying around,” she says.
FILLED WITH FIL FILTH: TH: Everything from clothes to toilet seats is strewn on the floors.
“We have young children who are exposed to this. Not only is this a health hazard, but the gangsters rob people who pass the house. We are living in fear in our own community. “The City of Cape Town should make sure the house is fixed and given to someone who will take care of it, because there are a lot of people who need housing,” she says. A neighbour, who also asked to remain anonymous, says not only is the house a haven for drug addicts, but it is also in a “terrible condition”. “There are no windows or doors so anyone can get into the house. There is no electricity and there are rats running from the house. We are suffering because this has been going on for years. We have reported this matter to the local housing office but nothing is
done,” he says. “Every night there are noises coming from the house and we are too scared to even go and find out
what is happening because there are gangsters using the house for their illegal activities.” Manenberg police spokesperson Lieutenant Ian Bennett says officers regularly patrol the area. “When it comes to derelict houses, residents should contact the Metro Police who have a special unit that addresses those issues. Our job is to make sure no criminal activities are taking place,” he says “If the community has a vacant property that is causing a problem, they should inform us so that we can have regular patrols in that area.” Tandeka Gqada, the Mayoral Committee member for Human Settlements, says the tenant living at the house may soon be out of the property after an investigation is complete. “All the necessary investigative procedures had to be undertaken before the City could begin the legal process to obtain vacant possession of the property,” Gqada explains. “Once the City has obtained vacant occupation of the property it will be allocated to the next eligible applicant on the City’s housing database.”
ANYBODY HOME? A woman is under stood to sleep in the house at night.