Illegal repairs last resort

VANDERBIJLPARK – Ekspagebou traders in the commercial centre have resorted to breaking the law.

This seems to be the only way to repair the entrance to basement parking they have already been billed for.

The law is that private repairs – of paving, potholes, etc – are prohibited. Repairs can only be effected by municipal authorities. A pressure group was once ordered to stop repairing potholes in Vaalpark and threatened with arrest. In this case, the repair itself is carried out by workers of the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) but they have been unable to proceed because ELM cannot afford to buy cement.

The Ekspa caretaker and owner as well as the Old Mutual franchise there, took it upon themselves to buy cement.  The entrance to the basement has been cordoned off for repairs for a month.

“They must just go ahead and arrest me,” said an irate Ekspa trader. “I’ll just sue ELM for damages.”

He points out that the people paying rates and taxes formed a minority in South Africa, and that this minority of payers deserved services.

At least one trader has sustained damages to her vehicle, which she now has to park above-ground and out in the open.

Some division exists between traders who refuse to pay for underground parking and those who intend to pay up as usual. The former say they will not pay for something they don’t receive. One asked whether it was even right that traders have been billed for the basement parking.