George Herald | More empty buildings, more vagrants

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More empty buildings, more vagrants
04:00 (GMT+2), Thu, 31 May 2012

Cheslen Solomons and his female friend (in the background) have found refuge among the walls of this derelict house in Omega Street.

GEORGE NEWS - Complaints about empty buildings - that are attracting homeless people and sometimes criminals to George's suburbs - are increasing.

After reports in the George Herald during the past few weeks, more residents have aired their concerns to the newspaper.
The latest complaints are from residents of St Paul's Street in Denneoord whose properties look onto a public park, where people have moved into an ablutions facility next to a tennis court. It is on municipal land.

During a visit by the George Herald, laundry hung on a washing line, but nobody was "home". Street cleaners told us that two young girls had emerged from the building earlier.

There was damage to the ceiling, blankets hung in front of the two openings to the toilets and household utensils were arranged on the stoep.

Ruin in Omega Street
Another complaint was received about a derelict house in Omega Street opposite the Eden District Municipality's offices. A young homeless couple are living amongst its walls. There are no windows and no roof. They sometimes make a fire in what are the remains of a fireplace.

The man introduced himself as Cheslen Solomons. The 30-year-old said he earns a meagre income by working as a car guard at the Cactus restaurant in the evenings. Cheslen is from Oudtshoorn and he and his female friend came to George just over a month ago to escape from a life of gangsterism, he said.

The house is situated right next to a boundary wall that separates it from its neighbours in Laing Street, from where the complaints have emanated. At night, tall grass and reeds along this wall also provide a place to sleep for more vagrants. According to a Laing Street resident, Linda Acton, someone had jumped over the wall and had tried to break in through a bathroom window of her next door neighbour recently.

Another resident with a double-storey house said she did not want to go out on her balcony any more because of the presence of the people, "dressed or undressed", in the dilapidated house.

Said Acton, "Besides the safety issue, we are highly unhappy about paying rates on a property recently valued at over R1-million, while we have to put up with ruins on our doorstep. This is unfair and something should be done."
Comment is being awaited from the George Municipality.

Lara Bartlett said on George Herald's Facebook page, "Pathetic. It is guaranteed that if you set up camp with your caravan you will be removed very quickly!"

The ablutions facility in St Paul’s Street where people have moved in. It is next to a tennis court on municipal land.

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST


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fisheagleapiaries says:	31/05/2012 11:12:25
It will keep on happening as long as landlords at the advice of Estate Agents demand high rentals verses George economy. Factory rentals by local agents R3000 plus; same rental by owner R1000. Factories rented out with 2yr contracts and have tenants now lowers the risks of vagrants and damage. George will need to re think the housing rental market if it wants to keep, and attract people, which will help stabilize it own economy. People can no longer afford just to work to pay rental incomes; this imbalance is causing an exodus of people trying to survive the economic down turn. In my opinion rental prices are one of the leading causes to this economic exodus happening in George which is leading to empty properties and vagrant problems.