DURBAN: UP TO 30 families face being evicted from their cottages at the Friends of the Sick Association (Fosa) TB hospital in Newlands.
They received notice their rents would more than double.
A letter put under their doors on July 17 stated the monthly rental would go up from R1320 to R2820 from next month.
Many of those affected rely on social grants or family generosity to survive.
The KZN Department of Health, which ran the TB hospital for 10 years, terminated the lease agreement with Fosa in 2015.
At the time the department was footing the bill for water and lights for the entire settlement, which was linked to a single meter.
The department said the lease would not be renewed because the infrastructure was inadequate.
The hospital, which served TB patients, was closed. But the surrounding cottages were leased to applicants who paid Fosa rent.
Fosa chairman, Dinesh Harkoo, said: “This year we handed the premises over for management (sub-letting) and upkeep.”
Fosa’s charity work relies on donations, Harkoo said.
“We have a landlord-tenant relationship with Legal Format, which is responsible for maintaining the premises and paying the bills,” he said.
The management company’s adviser, Dan Naicker, handled the cottage sub-leases.
This week, the tenants asked for a negotiation.
A tenant who did not want to be named said: “He told us there would be an annual increase of 10% and the lease conditions would not change. We didn’t know what to do when we got the shocking increase notice.”
Naicker assured tenants their concerns would be addressed individually.
This was not well received.
The outspoken tenant said they would have preferred to have their grievances handled in group sessions. “We suspect we could be misled in one-on-one meetings.”
Naicker said 10% increases had been agreed but excessive maintenance costs necessitated higher rentals.
He said the proposed rental increase had been suspended pending a review.
Naicker said tenants would be offered jobs when the TB hospital was revamped. He said his company was dealing with certification and licensing for a planned rehabilitation centre.
The Fosa facility was built on land donated by the Lockhat Charities Trust to benefit the community. Trust administrator Ismail Lockhat said the trust did not know about the sub-leasing.