Senator Park, a block of flats in Cape Town that is allegedly being occupied by drug dealers and prostitutes, has been trashed by angry residents who have refused to move out of the building so that it can be renovated.
About three months ago Senator Park’s body corporate succeeded in getting a court order from the Western Cape High Court authorising it to evict the residents and to upgrade the building at a cost of millions of rands.
Tenants were mostly renting the 168 units in the block and they were given until Friday last week to pack their goods and vacate the building. They were warned that unless they left voluntarily, the police would be called in to forcibly remove them.
Most tenants on the lower floors had complied with the order but in the process of leaving had trashed the building. However, those tenants living on the upper floors had still not moved out.
On the lower floors, where vacant flats had been abandoned, welders had moved in to permanently seal the doors.
Meanwhile the City of Cape Town has vowed to crack down on building hijackers who have illegally occupied at least 30 buildings in Bellville and Parow and it says it will take action against the owners of all 160 buildings in Cape Town that had become run-down and derelict.
According to mayoral committee member JP Smith the Bellville buildings along the main road were in a particularly bad state while in Parow, the worst affected area was between Railway Road and Main Road.
About two months ago Nathan Ladegourdie, assistance chief of the city’s problem buildings unit said that it will investigate all 160 buildings that are derelict as these pose a threat the safety of occupants and expose them to criminal activities.
Many of the derelict buildings within the city have been boarded up with entrances sealed. Apparently most of these derelict buildings have been sold and, in time, will be revamped into habitable housing units.
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