09 Oct 2013

There are many homes and stores in Molepolole particularly in Borakalalo ward that have been abandoned. Some have been unoccupied for almost 10 years, according to Kgosi Kebelaele Sesiane of Borakalalo ward..

In an interview Kgosi Sesiane said they had already identified 56 abandoned homes in Borakalalo ward, an upsetting figure that often bred all sorts of crimes and environmental ills in the area.

Such homes, he said, had become prime targets for thieves, haven for squatters, free hostels for troubled youths as well as unsafe playgrounds for children.

“Thieves who terrorise other people’s homes hide their stock in these deserted homes and stores,” he said, adding that he had so far received numerous reports of such incidents.

On one occasion during a ward clean-up campaign, he said, they found a television set and two sharp blades inside a deserted house which raised a lot of questions as to who they could belong to and what purpose they served. “We are not safe, those blades could be used to terrify people in our village,” he said.

Rundown and abandoned houses and shops seem to be an all too common refuge for many squatters. “I have seen more and more deserted homes in my area and sometimes there are people sleeping in them.”

Kgosi Sesiane also stated that during the winter season there were many people, some identified to be foreign who sought warmth and shelter in these places. Some of the homes they had inspected, had no windows and doors. He said most of the people illegally occupying abandoned homes were difficult to control.

“Some of them leave after being instructed by authorities, only to get back at night when everybody is asleep." He further said some young people used these houses as free hostels to engage in sex, particularly late at night.

 “In some houses we sometimes find used condoms when we go around inspecting,” Kgosi Sesiane said regretting that the move was reversing gains made in the fight against spread of HIV AIDS. Ms Mpho Kgaodi, an elderly resident at Borakalalo ward expressed how disappointed she was with some of the youths.

“I live next door to a home which has been abandoned for close to five years and at night I often see some boys and girls going into that home, God knows what they do inside there. It is such a shame.”

Some of the reasons why there are many abandoned homes and stores in Molepolole, Kgosi Sesiane said, were inheritance fights that took place amongst siblings after their parents’ deaths.

“Kids fight for the right to run their parents’ stores and more often, those who get to run them are quite negligent and inexperienced leading to the business failing.”

He also said some people relocated to other places such as Kumakwane and they never go back to their homes, which end up becoming uninhabitable and structurally unsafe.

He mentioned that although it was one of their priorities to hunt down the owners of these homes and stores so that they could assume the responsibility of revamping their places, he is also saddened by the level of irresponsibility portrayed by the owners.

He also said they had so far tracked down 10 home owners who promised to develop their homes. “I appeal to all the people who have left their homes and stores to rot, to come forward and do something about them because they are breeding all sorts of ills in our society,” he said.Ends