‘Living here is hell’
Etienne Marais
The Sunday Times of Johannesburg journalist Prega Govender this week
also interviewed homeowners near the historic Bryntyrian government
complex – where many of these pampered, well-paid ANC-Cabinet Members
live their luxurious lifestyles behind high-security fences. The
magnificent and historic complex with its stately buildings dates from
1903 – established just after the British overthrow of the Boer
Republics.
Govender writes: “Homeowners say being neighbours of the president is
causing problems – in fact homeowners are fuming over the Cabinet
ministers’ disregard for their neighbours’ rights as ordinary
citizens… Some neighbours even face expropriation of their valuable
family homes; and neighbours are constantly disturbed by ‘noisy
policemen who behave like hooligans while manning the security gates.’
■R1,07-billion budget for VIP protection, security guards: Yet despite
all this high-security hoopla costing the taxpayer some R1-bn in the
last financial year, there have been more than a dozen security
breaches at the Cabinet’s Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria… The figures
are contained in the SAPS ‘s 2009/10 annual report. In one case at
Bryntirion, floodlights were stolen from President Jacob Zuma’s
presidential guesthouse ‘sometime between April and June 2009’. There
also were housebreaking and theft of two computers a keyboard two
monitors and copper cables. Eighteen people were arrested, with nine
of the cases having been finalised. Bryntirion Estate, a national key
point, was established in 1903 just after the fall of the Boer
Republic. In the current financial year a total of R1.07bn has been
budgeted for VIP protection and security guards.
Residents of Arcadia and Colbyn suburbs, whose homes border Bryntirion
Estate – the official residence of President Jacob Zuma and most of
his huge number of Cabinet ministers and Deputy-Ministers – raised
some of the thorny issues that have soured relations in recent months
include:
■The erection of an “unsightly” gate at the estate on Eastwood Street,
above Government Avenue, without consulting residents;
■The removal of invaluable granite kerbstones from the portion of the
street where the new entrance was constructed;
■Rowdy policemen manning the gate and constant hooting by motorists at
all hours while waiting to enter the estate; and
■The lengthy delay by the Department of Public Works in building
firebreaks on the grassy ridges of the estate bordering private homes
in Colbyn.
Rashid Aboobaker, whose property is directly adjacent to the main
entrance, is also fighting desperately to save his family home after
it was expropriated in 2008 over security concerns – with the
government claiming in court documents that the beautiful, historic
home has to be expropriated ‘in the national interest’. Karina van der
Westhuizen and her husband, Corrie, whose R3.5-million home in
Eastwood Street is situated directly opposite the new gate, are
fighting for its removal. The couple and their two children, who have
been living in the area for more than 16 years, have been driven up
the wall by the noisy policemen manning the gate which is about 50
metres away from the house of Reserve Bank Governor, Gill Marcus.
■Their neighbours from hell include one guard who is “particularly
loud-mouthed and shouts at the top of his voice from the moment he
comes on duty until he leaves”.
In a lengthy letter forwarded to the Arcadia Ratepayers and Residents’
Association, Van der Westhuizen wrote: “They [the policemen] are very
rowdy and undisciplined. They often entertain guests and use the
entrance as a picnic spot. Their latest toy is a golf cart which gives
them great joy when they drive it around in circles.”
Van der Westhuizen, a senior lecturer in private law at the University
of South Africa, said they have not had a decent night’s sleep because
the bright, security lights from across the road shine directly into
their bedroom at night. “Members of government should set an example.
They are not above the law.”
Her neighbour Willem Steenkamp, who owns a guesthouse, said the
policemen “behave like hooligans”. “I shout at them a lot. It’s quiet
for two minutes then it starts again.” Linda Tyrrell, chairman of the
Arcadia Ratepayers and Residents’ Association, complained in a letter
to Pretoria/Tshwane municipality that “the aesthetic appearance of
this old world area has been negatively impacted by this unsightly
development”. The removal of the granite kerbstones that were replaced
by hideous cement is totally out of character with the ambience of
this unique area,” she wrote. She said trees were cut down to erect
the gate without consideration given to the birdlife and wildlife,
including the porcupines and bush babies living in the area.
“The residents have as much rights as the residents and employees of
Bryntirion Estate. We are neighbours. We need to treat each other with
respect but this is not happening.”
At a street market organised by the ratepayers’ association last
Saturday on Government Avenue to foster “a sense of neighbourliness”,
only Marcus and Mo Shaik – who heads the SA Secret Service – and his
wife, Erin, were spotted. “We would have expected President Jacob Zuma
to have been there. He’s part of our community,” said ward councillor
Advocate Kate Prinsloo.
Meanwhile, Aboobaker this week filed an application for leave to
appeal after failing in his bid to get the Pretoria High Court to set
aside a decision by Public Works to expropriate his property. After
expropriating it in January 2008, the department offered Aboobaker,
who is director of Erf 16 Bryntirion (Pty) Limited, which owns the
property, compensation of R7.6-million, although there was an existing
bond of R20-million. The house, bought in 1997, which, according to
court records, “is of great monumental and sentimental value”, has
been extensively renovated and features baroque and Victorian styles.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article748182.ece/Living-here-is-hell
http://nolstuijt.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/safrica-has-worlds-largest-cabinet/