Ethekwini residents take on housing developer

one of the ethekwini municipality's biggest housing developers, woodglaze trading, has been reported to the national homebuilders registration council (nhbrc) for alleged shoddy workmanship by residents of treehaven, a complex built and fully owned by the company.

mervin moodley, of the treehaven residents' committee, in phoenix, durban, said they were tired of complaining about cracked walls, leaking pipes and doors that did not close properly, without any feedback from woodglaze.

the company is owned by shireen annamalay, the wife of jay singh. the pair regularly receive housing contracts from the municipality.

in the past financial year, the two, who also own gralio precast, were recipients of section 36 contracts from ethekwini, which are only awarded in special circumstances.

woodglaze trading manager pravesh inderjeet said the tenants who had complained to the media were behind with their rent payments and that the company had records to prove it had attended to all "formal complaints" sent to their offices.

he said remedial and maintenance work at treehaven was ongoing and that the foreman had reported hairline cracks which could have occurred for a number of reasons.

gary olckers, of the nhbrc, said every individual or company which built a house had to adhere to very stringent industry standards.

moodley said that residents were happy that the nhbrc was sending inspectors to evaluate the complex of 138 units today, because they were tired of drilling holes to hang curtains only to see cracks appearing and a chunk of the wall popping out. one resident had effluent from a neighbour's flat leaking into his house.

"we pay r2 300 rent for these homes and were told we can only buy them after three years, but no bank is prepared to finance any of the properties they build," said moodley.

treehaven residents are also seeking help from the organisation for civic rights after woodglaze cut the electricity supply of some residents who did not pay their rent in time. such people were also told that they would be locked out of their properties.

"a fee of r100 will be levied to your account for the reconnection of electricity and unlocking of your flat," a pamphlet addressed to "all residents" of the complex reads.

woodglaze's inderjeet refused to comment on the disconnection of electricity.

the chairman of the organisation for civic rights, sayed iqbal mohamed, said: "unless the electricity was disconnected by the municipality, it would be illegal (for woodglaze to disconnect the service). any eviction can only be done by a sheriff in terms of a court order, followed by a warrant of ejection."

mohamed said illegal action to "deprive possession or the continued supply of services" was a quick-fix or self-help remedy which was illegal.

"it is in violation of section 34 of the constitution, which requires any dispute to be legally resolved in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial forum."

he had noted an increase in landlords resorting to illegal action over the past three years to recoup outstanding rent, and that the most vulnerable tenants were refugees and migrant tenants.

"where possible, we assist tenants by taking the matter to court and the order (granting access to the property or the reconnection of services) is granted within the same day."