Teens party in vacant house

Teens have been smoking and drinking in this abandoned house since the beginning of the lockdown, say residents.

Teens are using an abandoned house in Flamingo Vlei to drink and take drugs, say neighbours.

According to the complaints, the house in Sandpiper Crescent has been vacant since late last year when building stopped abruptly.

Residents say they have noticed a group of about eight teens – usually three girls and five boys – hanging around the property since the start of lockdown. And they are there, say the residents, during the day when they should be in school.

Deon Strydom, who lives near the house, said he and a local security company had had run-ins with the teens. They had managed to get them to clear out of the house but they had soon returned.

“This is a major security risk because these kids don’t even live in this neighbourhood. They come on their skateboards, smoke dagga and drink alcohol. We are afraid that they will start vandalising other properties in this neighbourhood once they are done smoking and drinking there. We often see used condoms there as well which is also very concerning.”

He said he feared things could get out of hand and someone could get hurt.

Mr Strydom took Tabletalk for a walk inside the property where we saw empty beer bottles and brandy bottles. There were also drug paraphernalia and used firecrackers.

The firecrackers could cause a fire as there was a lot of rubbish on the property that could easily catch alight, Mr Strydom said.

Adam Fletcher lives nearby in Pentz Drive and said he often saw the teens on their skateboards.

“I think their parents need to know what these kids get up to. It’s a potentially very dangerous situation for the kids as well as the neighbours of Sandpiper. With coronavirus still a problem, it’s not safe for these kids to be there sharing drinks and drugs and other activities they catch on to.

“Parents need to keep an eye on their children because they catch on nonsense and are not going to school.”

Table View Community Police Forum (CPF) chairman, David Harris, said they and the police were aware of the house and the police were keeping an eye on it.

He suggested residents also contact City law enforcement.

“SAPS will attend if there are illegal activities reported and need to see the illegal activities taking place. Residents can also make their armed-response companies aware who will then broadcast it on the CPF crime watch radio. If residents are not getting any response to their complaints, they can email the CPF at secretary@cpftableview.co.za and lodge a complaint for follow up,” said Mr Harris.

Table View police spokeswoman, Captain Adriana Chandler, said they could only act if the owner of the property opened a criminal case, such as trespassing or vandalism.

“The crime intelligence office checked records for the past six months, and no cases were reported at that address,” she said.

Tabletalk was unable to trace the owner of the property by the time this story went to print.

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