NONDUMISO MBUYAZI
Tenants of a Hillary housing complex have managed to obtain an urgent court order preventing 93 families from being evicted.
Angry tenants burnt tyres, brandished sticks and stones and danced in the pouring rain outside the Valley View complex on Charles Winser Drive yesterday.
The feud between the tenants and Sohco – a company which develops and manages affordable rental flats for families with a monthly household income of between R2 400 and R7 800 – had begun early last year when a small group of tenants had encouraged others to stop paying rent, said the company’s CEO, Heather Maxwell.
She said eviction orders had been granted for 93 tenants, after both the High and Supreme courts ruled in favour of Sohco. The complex has 157 units.
The tenants subsequently lodged an urgent application at the Durban High Court on Sunday, seeking permission to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court.
Representatives from the sheriff’s office, accompanied by the police and private security guards, were about to evict the tenants yesterday morning when the tenants received the court order preventing the evictions from going ahead until the matter was resolved at the Constitutional Court.
“A large number of tenants have continued to pay rent in terms of their agreement with Sohco, despite active intimidation from non-paying tenants,” said Maxwell.
Sohco is partly funded by government housing subsidy programmes and partly by bank loans taken out by the company.
Maxwell said the company was left with no option but to institute eviction proceedings against non-paying tenants through the courts after exhausting all other avenues.
A letter served to the tenants on Friday from the sheriff for Durban Central, Richie Maree, stated that the tenants were to be evicted yesterday.
“I am giving you the opportunity to avoid this humiliating experience for you and your family. Particularly for your children. I have decided to give you the opportunity to remove yourself from the premises in a dignified manner, over the weekend,” reads the letter.
Sohco had no choice but to postpone the evictions, said Maxwell.
Bearing placards with messages such as “We are not going anywhere”, “These are our flats” and “Go to hell”, the disgruntled tenants accused the company of several discrepancies. They allege that the company is charging them exorbitant rental fees, which were not agreed on when they moved in the complex in 2008.
The tenants also allege that they were promised full ownership of the flats after renting for four years but the company had since gone back on its word.
Troy Morrow, the complex chairman, said that prior to the tenants moving in, they had been told the rent would range from R850 to R1 500.
The new rent, he said, now ranged from R850 to R2 850. “We can’t afford this amount,” said Morrow.
Maxwell rejected as totally baseless claims that the tenants had been misled about how much rent they would pay.
She also denied the full ownership claims.
“During a comprehensive application process, it was made clear that the units are available only on a rental basis,” she said.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said no one had been arrested and no cases had been opened.