BILLION Property Group boss Sisa Ngebulana is buying up a string of homes surrounding a controversial site where his company is mixing concrete for the new Hemingways Mall.

Ngebulana has personally visited home owners in Ocean View and some have already agreed to sell after the business mogul upped earlier offers.

The owners had previously refused to sell their houses for price tags between R1.8million and R2m.

Kathy Thomas, whose mother lives adjacent to the concrete mixing site, said: “We are in the process of selling now.”

Some residents had already sold their homes, she said, while others were refusing.

Thomas’ ailing 86-year-old mother had already moved in with her when she decided to sell. “The people who sold are happy with the prices. They have good prices now,” she said.

Thomas said Ngebulana, who she described as “genuine and decent”, personally came to meet her mother last Friday after meeting other residents earlier in the week.

James Stewart, Billion Property Group projects director, declined to say how many had signed and how much had been offered. But the group saw a development opportunity if it acquired all the properties, he said.

The offers to purchase the properties come against the backdrop of an environmental report commissioned by Buffalo City Municipality which found several instances of non-compliance at the concrete mixing plant. A complaint was apparently lodged with the Public Protector, whose office has yet to respond to media questions.

The plant was established without consultation with residents. The city also changed an advert describing the use of the site as a storage facility without informing the affected parties.

Residents have complained bitterly about dust coming from the site.

At a meeting last week, the council considered an environment report compiled by Biotechnology and Environmental Specialist Consultancy, which had been asked to undertake an environment impact assessment.

Instead, the firm conducted an environmental management plan and in its report said the concrete mixing plant did not pose any hazards.

But the company recommended:

• A bed of crusher stone be placed over the entire site to reduce any potential dust or mud generated by vehicle traffic; and
• The use of waste water from the soak-away pit for dust control be stopped and an alternative water supply be sourced.
  
  

Source: Daily Dispatch