A resident in Kleinbosch expressed her fears and concerns for her and her family’s safety after a vagrant had erected an illegal structure in the Plattekloof Natural Heritage Site – property which belongs to the national electricity utility Eskom.
The area of the heritage site in question lies between Malmesbury Road and Giel Basson Drive.
Vanessa Witten, a resident in Boschheuvel Street in Kleinbosch, says she and her family have been living in the area for 24 years and that they have not experienced this before.
According to information received, the vagrant moved onto the site in May 2021.
The structure was erected right behind Witten’s house.
She told TygerBurger that the man is “very aggressive”.
A meeting was held with Eskom representatives in December last year which was also attended by the local neighbourhood watch, residents and ratepayers’ association, Bothasig police, the City of Cape Town’s safety and security, law enforcement and displaced people’s unit, as well as the local ward councillor.
Witten told the newspaper that at the meeting Eskom undertook to remove the individual with the assistance of the police, to have the overgrown vegetation cut and to have signboards installed stating that no trespassing is allowed.
“He has desecrated the area and continues to expand his territory with rubbish.”
“This has become our new surroundings that we face every day. The residents are furious and have pleaded with Eskom to take responsibility – to date we have seen very little action on their behalf.
“We no longer feel safe living here and looking onto this nest of a mess daily is unacceptable. We pay our rates to live here and if this is allowed to continue, our homes will without a doubt depreciate.
“Eskom needs to be taken to task as the legal land owner, and take responsibility to have this person removed,” Witten wrote in a letter.
Terry Swart, secretary of the Plattekloof, Welgelegen, Panorama and Kleinbosch Neighbourhood Watch (PWP) and member of the local ratepayers, agrees with Witten’s concerns.
“Eventually we demanded a meeting which was held on 8 December. After a lot of waffle we all set out timelines on action that needed to be taken. By the end of February we reconvened to see how far everyone got, only to find out that Eskom has not done anything yet.”
Swart confirmed that Eskom undertook to have a signboard erected, have the fence repaired and to have the person removed with the help of the police. She says they also undertook to have a contractor appointed to have the vegetation cleared.
According to Swart, the individual in question is killing wildlife for food.
“Our guys have been there, accompanied by law enforcement, but there is nothing we can do. We are only the eyes and ears. We cannot do anything.
Swart says Eskom has already opened a case at the police station to have the person legally evicted.
Cheryl Visser, ward councillor, says on her part that she is aware of the homeless person living on the reserve and that several meetings with Eskom senior staff and other role-players had been held.
“Our street people management department also had an intervention with the homeless person and offered him an alternative safe place to stay. Unfortunately he declined the offer.
“Due to judicial outcomes, Eskom has not yet taken direct action against the homeless person. To my knowledge they have laid a charge against him at the Bothasig Police Station for an investigation,” says Visser.
“I trust that this matter can be amicably resolved for all parties as soon as possible,” concludes Visser.
TygerBurger is still waiting on a response from Eskom.
