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home resulting in them failing to have space for extension.
Mrs Julia Zikhali (62) told Chronicle this week that her husband, Mr Alexander Zikhali, bought House Number 3330 Emakhandeni in 1982.
She said the two-roomed house used to be a corner stand, until last year, when they woke up to find strangers pegging another stand next to their house.
“There were three people who said they were from Tower Block and they were there to do a certain woman a favour,” said Mrs Zikhali.
She said she asked them why they were pegging the new stand in such a way that it encroached onto theirs.
“They could not answer. They just identified themselves as council employees, Mr Derrick Moyo and Mr Nzima. Our stand, which used to be the biggest because it was a corner stand, is now the smallest in the area. It has seven metres of space, while others have 10 metres,” she said.
Mrs Zikhali said her new neighbours had started digging the foundation to build their house. “I have been to the seventh floor at Tower Block and a Mr Khumalo said it was a new dispensation by council. Some council people have paid us a visit and instructed us to let the new people build their house,” said Mrs Zikhali.
She said she suspected the stand had been corruptly allocated because council officials were refusing to avail a town plan that shows dimensions of houses. “I am being directed from one office to another, while the new neighbours are building. If in the end, they are found to be wrong, will they be instructed to destroy the house?” asked Mrs Zikhali.
She said she had no money to pay lawyers to fight on her behalf.
“The new house will be squeezed between ours and the Emakhandeni Pump Station. There is hardly any space for us to effect an extension. Something is fishy here,” said Mrs Zikhali.
Contacted for comment, the council’s senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, said they were looking into the matter.
“We shall give a full comment in due course,” said Mrs Mpofu.
Online Reporter