Cape Town - The Milnerton Central Ratepayers Association has called on the City to act against a “greedy landlord” who it says has disregarded land-use laws and started construction of illegal structures in his backyard.
The landlord allegedly erected additional informal dwelling units on the property, in Erica Road, which irked the residents who, according to the association, logged 20 C3 complaints with the City last week.
Milnerton Central Residents and Prayers Association chairperson Bouwer van den Eems said the premises had been repeatedly flagged as a potential problem over the past few months.
He said the property had been occupied by close to 35 tenants who have had numerous visits by law enforcement and police regarding issues such as noise transgressions.
Van den Eems said the association’s concern was that once more tenants moved in, legal action would have no effect.
“Based on observations from neighbours, it seems the construction of the dwelling might be completed before the building inspector gets the opportunity to serve a ‘cease work’ notice.
“By the time the notice is served, people might have moved in and it will be almost impossible to remove the dwellers,” he said.
Van den Eems said sanitation and water infrastructure in Milnerton Central was already overloaded.
Deputy mayor and Spatial Planning and Environment mayco member Eddie Andrews said no building plans were submitted to the City’s development management department for assessment by the property owner.
He said the City had not inspected the premises as the building inspector could not access the property, but had confirmed the structures.
“The City intends serving a notice on the owner, instructing the owner to cease all construction work until the building plan has been submitted to and assessed by the City’s development management department,” he said.
Andrews said should the owner not comply with the notice, further legal action will be taken.