A bedridden senior in Tafelsig has been left without the means to return to her family home.

Cecelia Kloppers (74) currently lives in a City rental property in Tafelsig. She was moved there last year after the home she lived in for 43 years in Beacon Valley started collapsing around her.

“You just hear the bricks falling on the outside. And that wakes us up,” Kloppers said.

The problems with the house started when the foundation began sinking into the ground, Kloppers said. The walls then started cracking and the house became more and more structurally unsound.

Forty-three years and a R400 deposit

Kloppers and her late husband moved into the Judo Street house in Beacon Valley in the 1980s with their young family. When the City later offered them the chance to buy the property, her husband paid a R400 deposit. But the family could not secure a loan at the time.

“My husband was at work at that time, so we couldn’t make a loan. He was scared they’re going to pull the house in if he can’t pay,” Kloppers said.

The transfer was never finalised. The property remained in the City’s name, what the City classifies as a delayed transfer property, while the family continued paying rent. Kloppers said she has never been given a title deed.

Years later, the family tried again. Kloppers was advised to appoint a pro bono lawyer to handle the transfer, but was then told by the City that only a City-appointed conveyancer could be used. That appointment also never happened.

When her husband died 13 years ago, Kloppers continued to live at the house, but her son moved in with her when she became ill and bedridden.

Two years ago, when the house started falling apart, the National Coloured Congress (NCC) and Kloppers’ nephew Jermaine Martin, who is a commissioner of oaths, tried to assist her.

Tafelsig move

Martin says the family’s insurance claim was rejected because the house is still legally considered council property. He said the community then rallied to support his aunt and fundraised to fix the house but were stopped by the City, pending an investigation by engineers.

The City moved Kloppers to the Tafelsig property while assuring the family that they would fix the house, Martin said.

Kloppers was relocated to a Tafelsig house, which she pays rent for in addition to the Beacon Valley property, on 15 September last year.

“They promised me if we leave they’re going to fix the house,” Kloppers said.

Within days of the move, her daughter Anthea began e-mailing the City’s Homeownership department asking for updates. On 1 October 2025, the City confirmed a structural engineer’s visit.

Paper trail

On 15 October 2025, the City informed the family of the engineer’s finding: the property was deemed unsafe for occupation, and the family member who had remained on the premises to prevent looting was required to vacate immediately.

“Given the location of our home, it would not be viable to leave the property unattended,” Anthea wrote to the City on 17 October. She said she was concerned the house could end up vandalised and asked whether the City would provide security once the family vacated.

On 21 October 2025, the City replied that it would not provide security, and that this responsibility remained with the purchaser under the deed of sale.

Anthea continued to email the City and on 5 November 2025, the City said the structural assessment had been finalised and the report was under internal review. It said that given the “complexity of the matter and the legal and cost considerations”, further consultations with internal stakeholders were required and it could not say when a final decision would be made.

In e-mails which Anthea shared with TygerBurger, the City said it was securing a contractor and will inform the family of any developments.

Months of back and forth e-mails followed with no concrete information about the repair of the house until March this year when the City emailed to say that it was attending “to internal legalities”.

Three months later, after another series of back and forth e-mails, the City replied: “The legal opinion confirms that, according to the Deed of Sale, the City is not responsible for carrying out repairs to the property. It also states that the City is not legally allowed to undertake or pay for these repairs, as doing so would not comply with the relevant financial and governance laws and regulations.”

It added that the City was seeking a second legal opinion to ensure “all possible options have been considered”, but could not provide a timeframe and could not guarantee it would produce a different outcome.

Family left in limbo

Kloppers said the news was giving her sleepless nights.

“They were saying they’re going to fix it, the council is going to fix it. And now this last email…”

In the nine months since her move, Kloppers said she had received a series of assurances, from officials and politicians alike, that the matter was being attended to.

“They just tell you lies, all of them,” she said.

Anthea, who has been managing the correspondence while caring for her mother and trying to maintain her employment, said the weight of the situation had become overbearing.

“I can’t leave my mom alone,” she said. “And my company is also getting tired of the fact that I’m working remotely.”

Kloppers’ granddaughter attends school in Beacon Valley and must be taken there by Uber every day from Tafelsig, adding to the family’s expenses. Kloppers said that in Beacon Valley everything the family needs is in walking distance but Tafelsig is “far from everything”.

“I want my place. Because they promised me they’re going to give my place back, and I’ve been staying there over 40 years,” Kloppers said.

What the City says

City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said the house was a delayed transfer property that Kloppers had purchased, and that she remained responsible for the upkeep of the property and all payments under the deed of sale.

He said Kloppers was not being billed for municipal services as she benefited from active indigent relief.

Regarding the Tafelsig accommodation, Tyhalibongo confirmed that Kloppers had been temporarily relocated there due to the condition of the house, under a signed lease agreement, and that she was responsible for the rental payments.

“Although rental indigent relief in terms of this rental property was previously granted, it was cancelled due to non-payment and the rental account is currently in arrears,” Tyhalibongo said.

“The City has been in constant communication with the resident,” he said.

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