Cape Town - Tenants living in one of the city’s oldest rental stocks fear their lives will be uprooted as the city considers selling the place they have called home for decades.
Charles Sele, 47, said he has been renting one of the semi-detached houses in Harrington Street for 21 years.
“My whole life is here; my four children go to school here - all they know is the life here.
“This is frustrating. I don’t sleep at night and I have this constant fear that they (city officials) will come and remove us,” Sele said.
Four of the city-owned houses in Harrington Street have been emptied, with a security guard keeping watch.
But the city said the decision to sell the properties has not been concluded and it was in consultation with the tenants. It said it was not evicting residents.
Deputy executive mayor Ian Neilson said the properties were no longer required for the reason for which they were purchased - a road scheme.
He said the road scheme had been deproclaimed and they “are not required for other municipal purposes”.
“The city’s intention to dispose of these properties has been advertised in terms of the municipal asset transfer regulations, and solicited a number of comments from the current tenants.
“We are not proceeding with the process at this stage. The intention is to further engage with the current tenants more actively on a collective and individual basis in future,” said Neilson.
Sele said he moved to the block in 1995 after signing a five-year lease agreement with the city.
The lease agreement was valid for five years and permitted him to rent the six-roomed house for R2 300 a month.
After the lease expired, Sele said, no city official discussed a lease renewal with him. He said he and his family had been living in the house “hassle free”; this was until seven months ago when the sheriff delivered an eviction order.
Sele said: “I have been paying every month but they told me I am not fit to stay here - I should go live in Khayelitsha because that is where my family is from.
“They cannot move us from here if they are not giving us alternative accommodation.”
The father of four and Khayelitsha businessman has since appealed against his eviction order in the Western Cape High Court.
Neilson said in 2013 Sele was in arrears with his account, along with other breaches of the lease agreement including noise pollution, unlawfully sub-letting and erecting illegal structures.
Neilson said he could not comment on Sele’s allegation of having been told to move to Khayelitsha.
“The city exhausted all attempts in requesting Mr Sele to remedy the breaches and proceeded with legal action,” he said. “The court granted the order and the sheriff carried out the eviction on February 21.
“The same night, Mr Sele and the group of unlawful occupants overpowered the security guard, broke into the property and are now still in unlawful occupation.”
Two other tenants, who were too fearful to be named, said their lease agreements expired in March, but the city had refused to extend them.
The tenants claimed their children attended schools in town. They said they were “living on the edge with no knowledge of what tomorrow may bring”.
“We keep sending requests begging for monthly extensions. And in the meantime we are wondering when it will be our turn to be asked to leave. No one is forthcoming on what are the city’s plans with this place with all these evictions happening,” one tenant said.
Neilson said tenants were made aware, prior to signing the lease about two years ago, that it was a short-term lease with no option to renew.
He also denied the city was evicting residents.
Cape Argus