Calm was restored at Whitehall Court in Johannesburg following an urgent application restraining a pensioner from harassing fellow residents.
Image: The Heritage Register
Renovations at a unit at an upmarket residential apartment building in Killarney, Johannesburg, and the subsequent removal of several heavy decorative garden ornaments by the trustees of the complex sparked a series of bizarre events which necessitated the body corporate to urgently turn to court for help.
The Body Corporate of Whitehall Court asked the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, to restore safety and security within the residential scheme. This is after a retired resident is said to have employed his own armed private security guards to “safeguard” him. This is totally against the rules of the corporate body, which employs its own security company.
The issue of the unauthorised bodyguards roaming in and around the complex has sparked numerous incidents during which the help of the police had to be called in. This, in turn, caused the residents – many of whom are female households with small children or the elderly – to feel unsafe.
Acting for the body corporate, lawyers Ulrich Roux and Bongiwe Radebe approached the court on an urgent basis following the series of alarming incidents. The pensioner (the respondent) who is said to cause the problems did not physically appear in court to defend the urgent court action. He, however, shortly before the hearing, gave an undertaking to tow the line.
In light of this, the court granted an order prohibiting him from harassing or abusing any resident, occupant, or managing agent at the premises. He may also not engage in the services of his own guards at the premises without the trustees’ prior written consent. The respondent is not named in this publication to safeguard him as suspicions were raised in court that he may be suffering from mental health problems.
Johan Marnewick, chairman of the board of trustees, stated in court papers that the respondent obtained permission last year, shortly after he moved in, to renovate his apartment. But problems arose when it, amongst others, became evident that the structural support of his unit was being compromised by several heavy garden ornaments, said to weigh about five tons each.
The respondent placed these ornaments outside his front door, which caused problems for residents who have to walk along that route. The trustees subsequently removed the ornaments into the courtyard of the building. This upset the respondent, who then called the security company employed by the building, pretending that there was a physical threat to one of the female residents.
The security company and the SAPS rushed to the scene, only to find it to be false. This, Marnewick said, triggered a series of further bizarre incidents. Shortly before midnight on February 11, a resident and the security saw an armed man standing next to the respondent’s unit. It was discovered he was the respondent’s bodyguard, and he refused to move. He told Marnewick and others on the scene that “the building was surrounded by other armed associates.”
The respondent then came out of his unit, and he and Marnewick became embroiled in a physical altercation, which ended up inside the respondent’s unit. As the bodyguard tried to close them inside, another resident tried to rescue Marnewick and got injured when his arm went through a glass window.
The police arrived, and it was noticed that the respondent’s unit “was filthy with pills scattered all over the floor.” Marnewick got the impression that the respondent is either suffering from a mental condition and not managing his medication or he is using recreational drugs.
During the next few days, there were several more incidents of armed bodyguards gathering inside and outside of the premises. Some parked in a position facing the respondent’s balcony, while others gathered in the nearby park. When the armed men standing outside entered the premises, a group of residents gathered there, urging them to leave. The court was told that the respondent, barefoot and dishevelled looking, arrived and shouted at the residents. He allegedly also threatened one of them.
A man said to have hired the bodyguards then took the respondent to his apartment “to have his medication.” The court was told that all this caused the residents to fear for their safety.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za