Slumlords – we’re coming to get ya!

Today we break the first installment in a months-long investigation into slumlords in our area.
You will read elsewhere how our intrepid young reporter Gcina Ntsaluba spent months living in a house in King William’s Town along with scores of other people and recording the experiences of life in one of these houses and reporting the impact of these slums on their immediate environment.
Our first series deals with King William’s Town and it quite remarkable to see how one person’s slum empire can so damage an area. The villain of this piece is not alone and clearly there are many other unscrupulous individuals who are happy to tear apart the fabric of our neighbourhoods in return for fast and easy cash.
The spark for this investigation came from one of our community dialogue meetings in Southernwood earlier this year. At that meeting residents told us how the slums in the area were one of the primary causes of social decay and other problems in their area.
At that meeting I made a promise to those attending that the Dispatch would investigate this and would name the culprits. Police officers at that meeting also told me privately that they agreed that these slums and the explosion of taverns in Southernwood were major contributors to crime there.
I like to believe I am a man of my word and I do not make idle promises. The stories that you will read over the coming days will show you that we meant what we said at that meeting even if pulling it all together took a little longer than we expected.
We are investigating the Southernwood aspect to this problem and plan to publish the results of that investigation next week.
I hope these stories will make a difference.
There is no reason for the authorities to look the other way when it comes to slumlords. The city is well armed with by-laws to root out these people and to stop their cynical exploitation of those desperate for a place to live.
Turning a blind eye to the activities of slumlords has the same impact on our city as not caring about the rubbish that litters our streets.
This newspaper has campaigned hard to ensure our city is cleaned up and we are heartened to see the positive responses emerging from city hall on this issue. We hope they will respond with similar vigour to the slumlord issue.