A Lavender Hill family feel they’ve been unfairly targeted by the City of Cape Town for the wendy house they wanted to build for their disabled daughter and her family.
Gaironesa Solomons lives with her disabled daughter and son-in-law, their two children, a son and four other grandchildren.
The family lived in Roos Court for 30 years but moved to a two-bedroom ground floor City-owned rental in Eltister Road about six months ago because of the daughter’s disability, making it more bearable for her to move in and out of the house.
Shireen Abrahams, 30, was born lame on the left side of her body and has seizures. She married her husband, who also has the same disability, eight years ago.
When the family moved into their home in Eltister Road they decided to put up a wendy house for Shireen and her family. Law enforcement, however, visited the family, saying it has to be taken down.
A despondent Ms Solomons was overjoyed when she could move to a ground floor living arrangement.
“I struggled with Shireen, because she’d get fits and I’d have to carry her up and down the stairs. When we moved here we thought it would be a good idea to get the wendy house because my grandchildren had to sleep on the floor in the lounge,” she said.
Ms Abrahams gets a disability grant but will start working again soon. Her husband also works despite his disability and used their savings to buy the two-apartment wendy house.
Community worker Clive Jacobs said the family is being targeted by the City. “The family put up the wendy house because the house was crammed. They thought that putting up a wendy house would not be an issue because a lot of other people have wendy houses at rental stock houses and flats. Why is this family being punished for trying to make their life a bit more bearable? asked Mr Jacobs.
He said people who are supposed to be pointed out and removed from rental stock are not.
“The City targets innocent families. What about the drug houses, shebeens and the gang houses that are being operated from rental stock and those wendy houses? Do they tell them to demolish it? No, those people can do as they please and they are not challenged. At almost every other block of flats there is a wendy house,” he said.
“The City has outdated policies which don’t cater to the needs of the people and overlook certain issues but want to harass innocent families just trying to live peacefully,” he said.
Stuart Diamond, the City’s mayoral committee member for assets and facilities management, said an interim procedure for the erection of informal structures in the backyards of the City’s rental stock for residential and non-residential purposes, has been in place since 2011 and was developed to regulate the erection of structures.
“These procedures were put in place due to illegal structures that were erected in communal areas reserved for washing lines and children’s play areas,” he said.
He said interim procedure does not condone the erection of new illegal structures and this was made clear to Ms Solomon before she was transferred to Eltister Street.
Ms Solomons said at the time she did not read through the paperwork. “I was so excited because I waited for 30 years to get a ground floor home so when I went to the housing office I just signed without thinking,”said Ms Solomons.
Responding to claims that the City does not investigate City rental stock used as drug or gang houses, Mr Diamond said any reports that are lodged or brought to the City’s attention will be investigated and dealt with in terms of the approved policies and procedures.
Asked if the City will go ahead with the demolition, he said housing safety unit officials have issued the tenant with a compliance certificate but an extension was granted until the end of the month to remove it.
Mr Jacobs, however, said he will take legal action against the City: “We do not want an extension, we want the family to be able to keep the structure indefinitely.”
Mr Diamond asked residents to report illegal activities in rental stock by lodging a complaint with the Retreat local housing office on 021 701 1294/6 or to the City’s call centre on 0860 103 089.