A disregard for boundaries leads to a division of livelihoods.

Following the construction of a multi-store strip mall alongside the filling station at the corner of Peter Road and Beyers Naude Drive, Kriek and Martie Badenhorst have had a disrupted existence. Claiming that the commercial building and accompanying infrastructure were never compliant, the Badenhorsts have had a 17-year struggle to have the powers that be protect their rights.

The Badenhorsts’ home was built by Kriek’s father 60 years ago. Having lived in the house since he was five years old, the 65-year-old man and his wife deal either with torrential flooding, electricity disruptions or living next to an ad-hoc party venue. In the interim years, senior municipal officials, politicians and various news publication have met with the family personally but they have yet to find any solace.

The greatest natural threat to the homeowner’s property is the annual flooding of their home. A brick driveway, elevated roughly a metre in order to be levelled, covers much of the surface area between the filling station and the boundary wall. With no drainage, the water flows over the bricks, through the precast wall and into the property, flooding the garden and bedrooms of the terraced house. The municipality has dug a makeshift trough leading to a drain built by the centre’s developers but does little to divert the gushing torrent.

The flooding of the Badenhorsts’ property is a perennial matter but the field between the shopping centre, which also houses a tavern, and the filling station is a weekly headache. The field is a popular weekend hangout, with Sundays being an all-day party affair. Other than two toilets in the centre, there are no ablutions for what Kriek believes is hundreds of revellers who urinate and defecate along his boundary wall. “You must come smell this place on a Monday morning,” fumed the husband.

The property’s electricity box had to be moved from the corner where the centre’s Peter Road entrance was built due to constant water damage. It now sits closer to the Badenhorsts’ driveway but has been tampered with several times by vandals. Causing multiple power failures in his home, Kriek claimed to have taken it upon himself to remove illegal connections attached to his electrical infrastructure.

The Badenhorsts claim that a court order to demolish the structure was obtained in 2014 but never executed. They have since exhausted their resources, stating that the municipality has not shared their stamina in providing an answer.

“They come and look at the house and the building, they say they will investigate and then we never hear from them again,” said Badenhorst who had approached the ombudsman, the Public Protector and any councillor who would listen.

The owner of the commercial property acknowledged an attempted query on the matter via WhatsApp on August 12, but declined to comment in detail other than to say the matter was ‘complicated’. Chief building inspector for Region C, Mr Phambili Mhlana, was contacted to enquire about the status of the building, with Mhlana agreeing to investigate the matter upon receipt of an email inquiry sent on August 12.

Selling the vast property is not an option for the Badenhorsts as the market value had dropped considerably due the widespread water damage which affects every room on the ground floor. Income for the retirees is also lost as tenants who once shared rooms in the house have left as the living conditions became untenable. Kriek’s father passed on several years ago and he noted how his father claimed he would never live to see a resolution to the matter, a prophecy sadly fulfilled.

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