Nightmare neighbour causes havoc
ALEXANDRA – Man worried of neighbour's destructive acts.
A resident of 3rd Avenue, Alex who worries about the safety of his family from a neighbour threatens to take matters into his own hands.
Steven Madonsela said the neighbour called Sibusiso broke the wall which separates their joined houses several times. “The councillor and the police have done nothing to help despite several reports.”
Read: Woman pours hot oil over two neighbours for being too noisy
The unemployed Madonsela who foots the repair bills said the man who allegedly is mentally unstable broke the wall after taking drugs or was intoxicated. The first time he broke the dividing rock wall at the back in July last year.
“He did the same on the internal wall on 2 and 3 October this year. This in addition to other times when he stops in the process after being warned but, by then, his actions will have weakened the wall,” Madonsela said about the man who this reporter greeted with a view to talking to him but he walked away without responding.
“I am now contemplating taking the matter into my own hands fully aware of the consequences, so long as I will have protected my family against someone said to be mentally ill but is left alone and can’t be taken for observation and institutionalised. We should feel safe in our own home,” Madonsela said.
His wife Busisiwe added that she will join him in the action.
Read: Man assaults girlfriend with a hammer over noisy washing machine
She said the reported cases were postponed four times by the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court until the fifth time when a prosecutor told them that the man’s relatives were ordered to take him for mental observation which she doubts will be done. She said she once laid a charge of assault against the neighbour for throwing a wooden stump at her injuring her on the leg resulting in her missing work for three weeks while recuperating. “He claimed falsely, to have acted in revenge against my husband beating him. The case was also reported to the police but fizzled out before it went to court.”
Madonsela said despite warning the neighbour, “He continues his costly antics often early mornings when we are awakened by vibrations from pounding on the wall using an unknown object.”
Read: Theft from neighbour
The couple doubts the man’s insanity claiming, “Its impossible for an unstable person to remain alone in a house which he seemingly rents out to strangers while the mother resides in one of the extensions in the township.” They said he was also, once arrested for illegal possession of dagga but released soon afterwards and for the theft of a cell phone while still a teenager and was released on parole. Also, they said he sometimes tries to stop them from drawing water from a communal tap and using a shared toilet which forced them to construct one inside their house.
The family spent over R1 000 repairing the walls which they don’t expect the man will consider refunding.
