Bellville residents are demanding action after a man who “wouldn’t hurt a fly” lost a kidney after a vicious attack while passing a notorious house in the area.
The man, Wiehan Smalberger, a merchandiser at OK Foods Blomtuin in Suikerbos Street, was on his way to work from the taxi stop in Voortrekker Road last Thursday at around 06:00, when he passed close by the house in Mooigezicht Street, Chrismar.
The house was soon taken over by street people became vacant after the owner died.
Every piece of value has been broken off or sold, including taps, wires, basins, and toilets.
People have set fire to different rooms and used various rooms to defecate in, making them almost uninhabitable.
When Smalberger passed by, people either living in the house or who frequent the house, allegedly attacked him, stabbing him in the face numerous times as well as his kidney and back.
His phone was stolen in the process.
He managed to escape and drag himself to the Shell Garage in Blomtuin, where the police were called.
Edward Ribeiro, the owner of OK Foods, says Smalberger has been moved out of the intensive care unit at Karl Bremer Hospital.
Ribeiro says his entire staff complement is concerned about Smalberger’s health as he has been a loved employee for around eight years.
“I don’t think that’s just a mugging,” Ribeiro says.
“That’s someone on drugs.”
Spokesperson for Bellville Police Station Capt. Aubrey Morwenyane says Smalberger was found on the ground of the Shell and a case of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm was opened.
He says nothing was noted at the address in Mooigezicht Street.
Johan van Zyl, owner of the Shell, and Ribeiro both say Smalberger collapsed because of an attack by occupants from the house.
“He wasn’t attacked here,” Van Zyl says.
The house in Mooigezicht Street has been a thorn in the Chrismar Neighbourhood Watch’s side for months.
Theo Galloway, chair of the watch, has reported it to the police on an almost-daily basis.
He says it has become too unsafe to enter the premises at night without a gun and would not let TygerBurger’s journalist visit the house alone.
Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town’s law enforcement, says the property has been declared a Problem Building in terms of the Problem Property By-law.
As to what residents should do about problems encountered, Dyason says: “Criminal activity should be reported to the South African Police Service.”
