January 22, 2025

By  Joseph Bracken

Cloetesville residents say that they are always asking for repair work to be done

Some Stellenbosch flats still have asbestos roofing, at least one of which is damaged, making the residents vulnerable to serious health problems. A contractor will be appointed by the municipality to fix the flats.

Mary Ann Rhode, a resident of Rhode Street in Cloetesville has been in touch with the local municipality since February this year to fix the roof on her apartment. In the correspondence, the city acknowledged that the roof was damaged and said they would send someone to fix it.

She said that when no one came to repair the roof, Rhode contacted the local municipal offices and asked what was going on. They said that they knew about it and were going to fix the roof, but nothing happened.

Rhode’s family and she struggled during the winter to keep the apartment from flooding. She said that the water had caused their ceiling to sag and created a large hole.

Rhode, her husband and two daughters live in this apartment. The sitting room was not usable due to water damage, and electrical wires that could be dangerous.

Water damage also caused Rhode’s TV to be destroyed. Rhode’s family had to climb up a ladder into the roof to patch the damaged area.

Rhode is worried that the asbestos roofing on her apartment will make her sick and cause her to be sick. Stuart Grobelaar confirmed, as the communications manager for Stellenbosch Municipality said, that some units still have asbestos roofs. The buildings were constructed many decades ago.

Raymond Douglas of Ark Waterproofing – a firm that deals with asbestos roofs – said the wind and rain could stir the asbestos up in the cavity in the roof and make it come out through the hole. He said that this could be a danger to the residents’ health.

Asbestos exposure can lead to lung diseases, including mesothelioma. This is a type of cancer that affects the lining in the lungs.

Chris Januarie of Rhode Street Flats said that other tenants have also repeatedly approached the municipality, but their problems have not been resolved. William Hendrikse, a resident of the Rhode Street flats, and Magdalena Davids both complained to their municipality for over a year about broken geysers.

The geysers in her flat are among the most frequent problems she faces.

Hendrikse brought up the problem of his bath. Hendrikse has been raising the issue of his broken bath. The water in the bucket has been heated over the stove.

Grobelaar stated that the municipality appointed a contract to fix the flats, but the contractor had to withdraw due to lack of funding on his side.

Grobelaar said that the supply chain management team and contracts management are also looking into the bids of other contractors to find a new contractor. After a contractor has been found, repairs to the apartments can start immediately. The asbestos roof would be replaced by steel, he said.

Douglas thinks that the municipal authorities should have dealt with the issue of asbestos on the roof.

Douglas: “The municipal had two options legally to fix the roof,” Douglas said. The roof could either have been sealed or replaced.

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