A vagrant community has sprung up in suburban Cape Town inside two Public Works houses abandoned by their police residents because the dwellings were no longer fit for human habitation.
Waterloo Green in leafy Wynberg is a cluster of heritage buildings that used to accommodate SAPS members down the road from the military base. But when the SAPS moved out about five years ago – due to a lack of maintenance -- the homeless moved in, and about 20 people now live in squalor inside two gutted adjoining buildings.
Waterloo Green in Wynberg is a cluster of heritage buildings that used to accommodate military officers from nearby Wynberg Military Base. But when the military moved out about five years ago due to a lack of maintenance, the homeless moved in. About 20 people now live in squalor inside two gutted adjoining buildings. The buildings have been stripped of fittings and are strewn with rubbish and excrement — surrounded by middle-class cottages and a park.
The site has become a source of conflict between ratepayers, the City of Cape Town and the national government, with nobody seemingly willing to intervene except for good samaritans who occasionally drop off food for the struggling “residents”.
“We try to help each other [with food and supplies] but we are not working and one can only do so much,” said Ashleigh Snyders, one of several squatters who spoke to the Sunday Times this week. “I don’t have any family left who can look after me. Most of us need help,” said Snyders, who earns a meagre income selling stickers distributed by a welfare organisation. Snyders and eight others live in one of the abandoned homes. He said many of them had either been turned away by a homeless shelter or could not afford meals there.
Another resident ekes out a living gathering plastic and discarded items for recycling.
Wynberg ward councillor Emile Langenhoven said the houses should have been demolished. “We had a commitment from the previous [public works] acting DG that the houses would be demolished by April 2022. That time has lapsed and the buildings still stand. It is uncertain where matters stand ... The properties are perfect for development and would be easily sold to a developer,” he said.
“The property would have been snatched up if the tender for its lease that had been put out by [public works] had remained in place. However, for some unknown reason the tender was withdrawn. Schools in the vicinity would gladly use the property but it remains a mystery why the department does not wish to dispose of Waterloo Green,” he said, adding that the city had no right to evict squatters in accordance with a recent high court ruling despite the structures being declared “problem buildings”.
• 20: Estimated number of people trespassing at Waterloo Green
• R10m to R15m: Estimated market value of the vandalised buildings
— In Numbers
“What needs to be realised is that the houses are in their current state not because they slowly decayed but had been occupied by vagrants who stripped the houses down to their foundations,” he said.
David Hoffmann, whose home faces Waterloo Green, said a murder on the street corner two weeks ago had reinforced ratepayer concerns about the site. “I’m a property valuer and [public works] has probably lost about R10m to R15m on that property,” he said.
“Obviously we all have sympathy for the homeless but on the other hand not having toilets results in a health hazard in the area.” He said criminal elements had infiltrated the homeless community since the site was abandoned. “It has got worse.”
Police confirmed a murder investigation was under way “after the body of an unknown male was discovered in a pool of blood” on July 2 in the street. Three suspects were arrested and appeared in the Wynberg magistrate’s court.
The public works department confirmed plans to demolish the derelict dwellings. “The houses were already in a bad state of repair when they were handed back to the department [by the SAPS],” said spokesperson Lunga Mahlangu. “They were subsequently extremely vandalised by vagrants and further to vandalism, both houses have been subjected to fires, which has caused structural damage,” Mahlangu said.
The Waterloo Green houses have provincial heritage status on account of their age and, in the case of the main building, its (previous) thatched Victorian character. Wynberg was once a village developed as a “preferred place of retirement for British civil servants returning from tours of duty in India,” according to South African History Online.
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