By Nosipho Mngoma and Samkele Khanyile
Durban - Residents of a secluded Chatsworth community have been forced to abandon their homes and the land they have farmed for more than 150 years, after being terrorised by criminals, even in broad daylight.
“By next week, this whole road will be empty. There is no Diwali here, how can we celebrate when we have to turn our backs on our homes?” said Clive Naicker, a resident of Seven Tanks, in the Silverglen Nature Reserve.
Six of the 16 families have left.
Naicker, a police officer, was off work because he was scared to leave his wife, daughter, mother and disabled brother alone because of the thieves tearing their homes apart for scrap metal.
“All of the houses here are made of corrugated iron. Our area is a gold mine for these whoonga guys, these sheets are strong, not like the stuff sold now,” he said.
On Wednesday the Daily News visited the area, separated from the edge of uMlazi’s H, F and G sections by the uMlazi River.
On Monday, Naicker and other residents had a stand-off with a group who were looting two homes, abandoned after a couple were assaulted. “People were walking away with windows, cupboards and whole pieces of furniture on their heads. We tried to stop them from stealing and they threw stones at us.
“They then set a house and car alight and we had to turn the car over to stop the flames from spreading to the house,” Naicker said.
The home of Chunderaathie, 64, and Pooran Harichunder, 73, was gutted with only the foundations and walls remaining after they fled on Saturday morning.
Chunderaathie said: “Barking dogs woke me up at 2am. I looked out of the window and saw two men cutting the wire fence. I put on the outside light and screamed at them to go away. They just carried on. They knocked out the light and went for the car battery.”
Fed-up at the fifth theft on their property, Chunderaathie confronted them. “From where I got the guts to do that, I don’t know,” she said.
As she and her husband, who recently had a heart attack, ran to the safety of a neighbour’s house, the men threw bricks which hit Pooran on the back, injuring him.
In the morning, they hired trucker Vishnu Gounder to move their belongings. When they returned for the rest on Sunday, their house had been vandalised.
“The fridge motor was ripped off, they took any metal they could find… taps, the meter box, pipes, everything,” Gounder said.
On Wednesday, he was at the house to salvage what he could for scrap metal. Three people scoured the ruins, unfazed by the presence of Gounder, Naicker and journalists.
“I saw this house burning so I know it’s deserted. I’m not stealing, I’m just collecting what I can to get a few cents,” said a 23-year-old man.
He said he had come from G-Section.
Naicker said they had lived in harmony for years with their neighbours, many of whom worked on the farms in Seven Tanks, or used it as a thoroughfare from Chatsworth.
“Since about a year ago, when whoonga became a major problem there, there has been no peace.”
The 23-year-old said he only smoked dagga. “You would not be standing in front of me with your phone if I smoked whoonga. Those guys are aggressive, they will do anything for a fix,” he said as he chipped the concrete off a copper pipe he had picked up from what had been the bathroom of the Harichunders’ home.
Across the narrow gravel road, a 58-year-old woman tore down timber and corrugated iron sheets from another house. She said she was from H-Section and walked daily through the area to work in Chatsworth.
“If these people leave, they may as well close this road because we will never be safe walking across,” she said.
She had seen the owners leaving and asked to buy the material.
They agreed and she came back to disassemble the three-bedroom house.
“I put all the material over there for a van to pick up, but by the time it came, most of it had been stolen,” she said.
The house belonged to Dayanand Bhagwandin, 47, and his sister, Rajkallie Ranjit, 61. They had since sought refuge with their brother, Sabhanandh Ranjit, in Phoenix.
“I sold everything to a lady. What happened to the Harichunders drove us against the wall, we’re living in my brother’s garage now.”
There are no streets lights in the area. He managed to take the fridge and stove before it became too dark.
“When we came back the next day, half the house was already demolished and all the property stolen,” Sabhanandh said.
On Tuesday, the community started a neighbourhood watch.
Headed by resident, Vijay Rampersad, the patrollers included members of the H-Section community who had joined hands with their Seven Tanks neighbours.
Police spokesman, Brigadier Jay Naicker, confirmed no arrests had been made in the numerous cases.
Daily News
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