Tenants fight for their homes in Berea amid short notice eviction

A group of tenants are fighting tooth and nail to remain in a block of flats in Berea until they find alternative accommodation on Wednesday. 

The tenants, living in Syringa Mansions, had received notices on December 17, 2024 to vacate the building by January 20, 2025. Residents who wished to remain anonymous, fearing a reprisal from the landlord, said they should have been given adequate time to find suitable accommodation. Many of the tenants have been living in the building for 35 years.

Another elderly lady has been in the flat for 41 years. They said their children were born there and the building had become their home. They claimed that the landlord verbally threatened them to move out. 

Dawood Parag, who represents the KwaZulu Natal Tenants and Homeless Peoples Trust, has taken up the residents' plight for a “dignified removal”.

Parag said demanding that the tenants move out on short notice is impossible. Parag said there are a number of pensioners, unemployed and sickly tenants who attend the clinic in nearby Lancers Road and have the inconvenience of getting a mini-bus taxi to and from another medical facility if they move out. Parag argued that children are attending schools in the locality and a relocation to a far away area could affect their schooling. 

Parag also argued that some of the tenants will be inconvenienced by travelling to their workplace from an area outside of central Durban. Parag said the tenants are victims of a capitalist society. Parag said these tenants should have been assisted by the banks for themselves. Parag also argued that the tenants have become victims of a government housing backlog which has failed them.

“The sad reality of the capitalist society is that while many of these tenants have paid amounts equivalent to housing bonds they do not own a single brick in the flat. Buildings are changing hands after one capitalist investor buys and sells to another for a profit,” Parag said. 

Parag claimed that a relocation can cost up to R20 000. This includes advance rentals, deposits, water deposits, electricity deposits and cartage costs to move to alternative premises.

“Most of the tenants cannot afford a surplus R1 to bless their souls. Tenants have reserved their legal rights to express their grievances to a court of law regarding the bullying attitude of capitalist landlords. Our organisation remains committed to solving the problems between landlords and tenants in an amicable manner to avoid costs of litigation to either parties,” Parag said. 

Attorneys, Hajra Patel Incorporated, who speaks on behalf of the landlord of Syringa Mansions building declined to comment. In a notice to the residents, they requested that tenants were required to vacate the premises, return the keys to the office and also make payment of all outstanding sums inclusive of interest charges and legal costs. 

The Warwick Triangle area is a historic inner-city Durban suburb where residents successfully resisted apartheid forced removals. Syringa Mansions now houses the last remaining tenants of this historical area. Tenants from other blocks of flats had moved out over the years. 

In March 2019, residents of Syringa Avenue's Bailey Court, Krishna Court and Rosemont were evicted to make way for student accommodation. A petition signed by 1250 people, consisting of tenants from Syringa Avenue, Westpark Heights, 300 Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street and Kenning Hall, was handed over to the mayor’s office asking for assistance. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za