GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Houses owned by the Department of Public Works (DPW) have been standing empty in Kroonvale for years, and many have now deteriorated.

The Advertiser first reported in 2012 about the state of the 137 houses owned by DPW in Bergendal, Kroonvale and Umasizakhe. For a while, they were rented by private tenants, but these tenants were given notice to move out early in 2012 due to the impending relocation of DPW employees.

By 2015, the department admitted that due to extensive damage to many of the houses, they could not put tenants into them, despite the increasing shortage of houses available to rent in Graaff-Reinet.

Since August 2017, Clr Daniel Williams has been trying to get answers on this from the local office of the DPW. More houses were since vandalised and the windows, doors, roof sheets and rafters have been sold by scavengers to members of the community, often taken in broad daylight.

In Bergendal, all the houses appear to be occupied, and in the main are neat and tidy. Whether they were eventually sold, as promised by the DPW, or are rented, has not been confirmed by DPW.

In Umasizakhe, there are two empty and vandalised houses, that had been stripped, but the basic structures are intact and could be repaired.

Clr Williams points out the houses in Kroonvale that are falling apart. Photos: Sue Shaw

However, in Kroonvale, there are eight derelict houses in Dahlia Street. At one property, all that remains of the garage is the cement floor.

A member of the community wrote to Patricia de Lille, the Minister of Public Works, for an explanation of this neglect of state property.

The resident received a response from Leigh-Anne Jansen, Parliamentary and Cabinet Officer in DPW, who is investigating the matter.

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