Minister warns dodgy contractors

Human Settlements Minister, Connie September, has vowed to take strong action against contractors responsible for building “sub-standard” low-cost houses. Reacting to media reports that a Durban company linked to controversial businessman, Jay Singh, was being accused of building shoddy houses, September said her department could not allow a situation “where contractors cut corners to the detriment of our citizens”. Referring to the Woodglaze Housing Development Project in Phoenix, she said she would be writing to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements and eThekwini Municipality to get clarity. “The role of the National Home Builders (Registration) Council (NHBRC) in this whole saga will also be examined as such alleged practices by this specific contractor, and all contractors in the country for that matter, are not supposed to occur,” September said.

“The NHBRC would have to provide the minister with a full report on this or any other cases it is involved in where contractors continue to build sub-standard low-cost houses.” “We must never think twice in blacklisting such contractors and terminating their services should they be found guilty,” September said. Woodglaze Trading, owned by Singh’s wife, Shireen Annamalay, was taken to court on Friday by disgruntled tenants. More than 200 Phoenix residents have been involved in a legal battle with Woodglaze and the municipality after they were allegedly threatened with eviction for withholding rent. They also claimed a promise to let them buy the homes had not been kept. Woodglaze has denied the claims in an affidavit filed on Friday in the Durban High Court.

Singh is also linked to the partly-built Tongaat Mall that collapsed last week, killing two workers. Acting Judge Peter Rowan ordered that the municipality provide the association with the record of decision for the sale and transfer of the properties to Woodglaze by end of business on Friday, and all parties are to file supplementary affidavits. He adjourned the case until Friday. Ramesh Luckychund, the attorney acting for the Phoenix Residents’ Association, told the Daily News later that the municipality had “partly” complied with the order. Luckychund said the association would make an application to prevent the eviction of the residents as well as an application to prevent them from being assaulted or harassed by staff of a security company hired by Woodglaze.

In court papers, Phoenix resident Sathieseelan Ramsay Naidoo, a member of the association, said that in 2000 the municipality had taken a policy decision to utilise various landfill sites to build housing. He said it was the municipality’s intention to invite a private entity to develop one or more landfill sites, which would be transferred in due course to people in need. “But there was an unusual turn,” he said. “Residents were denied ownership of the houses built and were induced into signing tenancy agreements designed by Woodglaze Trading for rental payments from residents as profit for its private coffers. ”Some residents fell behind in payment of rental and Woodglaze embarked on a relentless exercise of evicting tenants that they considered in default,” Naidoo said.

They were granted interim relief from the court in May against the security company. Naidoo referred to a municipal resolution made in April 2000 that 70 percent of the balance of vacant municipal land in Phoenix would be sold to beneficiaries earning a monthly income of R7 000. He said to do this, the municipality appointed developers to build homes on the land with the view of the municipality selling them to beneficiaries at a cost of R29 000. In its affidavit, Woodglaze denied the allegations, saying there were two separate agreements with the municipality - one development was for residents to rent to buy and the other private housing development was only for rental.

Annamalay said the municipality had modified the allocation policy for the Phoenix landfill sites in that a maximum of 50 percent of the total number of sites would be made available to private sector developers. The remaining 50 percent of the sites, she said, was to be sold to individuals. She said residents were not denied ownership of houses, nor were they “induced into signing tenancy agreements”. Tenants, she said, who had not paid their rental were evicted by way of summons and in some cases, furniture was also attached. Annamalay admitted that Woodglaze had hired security companies to help collect rent, but said none of them was instructed to harass, assault, or harm any of the residents. She argued the 221 applicants were not beneficiaries who qualified for ownership of homes in the development and that the municipality had never intended to sell those homes for R29 000 each.