Cape Town – Belhar residents said they are tired of students living at the South Point student accommodation partying outside of curfew restrictions, littering and disturbing the peace in their neighbourhood every weekend.
The Belhar Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (BRRA) said the issue has been going on for over two years and despite meetings with South Point, there has been no improvement.
Videos have circulated on social media showing cars blocking the road, people drinking outside and singing and dancing on cars.
“We are having a tough time with them as they are unlawfully partying outside of curfew restrictions, as well as basically destroying the value of our properties along with mass littering when they have their street parties.
’’On top of that, they have moved as far as Belhar Gardens to damage residents’ properties (vehicles). Police do come out but they are not enough to manage the large number of students,” BRRA spokesperson Hishaam Allie said.
He said attempts to talk to the students would turn into arguments.
South Point have meanwhile condemned the behaviour and said they were committed to develop a long-term solution to the public nuisance issue.
“The distressing weekly gathering is not at all in keeping with the living and learning environment that we aim to provide students, both within and around the vicinity of our buildings.
’’We will continue to engage relevant partners, including the Belhar community and key university stakeholders,” South Point said in a statement.
They said they had tried to make law enforcement aware of their challenges with regular calls but with little success to date.
“Indeed, our own staff and security services have also been threatened by participants when we try to manage crowd control. This is a larger community issue. South Point also needs to correct a misnomer.
’’Reports in recent months allege that we fail to ’control’ our students and enforce our house rules and lease provisions. Our jurisdiction and influence ends at the perimeter of our property and does not extend to the public realm.
’’The now-regular events are a repeated failure of law enforcement in respect of municipal bylaws, public order and Covid protocols – and not South Point.”
The City’s Law Enforcement spokesperson, Wayne Dyason, said: “The City’s Law Enforcement Department is looking into this matter.”
Cape Times