12/01/2023
This a response to the article in the Cape Times regarding the incident at the Adderley entrance of the Piazza on the 2nd January 2023. I am responding here since nobody bothered to contact me for my version of events. All representations made are in my own personal capacity and do not represent the views of other owners or the Body Corporate.
On that day, one of the owners complains to the "unknown man" that people are trespassing on the property, this is the starting point of the drama. This unknown man is a staff member of the Piazza. The staff member then approaches the trespassers and asks them to leave which they refuse to do. He then returns back to his work station where he contacts the caretaker who is not on site.
According to the staff member, the caretaker instructs him to make sure the people are off the property, and so for a second time the staff member tries to get the trespassers to leave. It is at this stage the alleged incident of assault takes place.
The staff member as a last resort of sorts contacts me and I intervene in the situation. I approach the three trespassers and identify myself as an owner and member of the Body Corporate and that they are on private property and they must leave. They show no intention of leaving the property.
I then contact a CCID officer to assist, he is unable to assist because according to him the area is private property, he then calls the police at my request. At this stage I move to the gate and keep it open while waiting for the police. During this period I respond to the baiting and heckling of the crowd. I do not make any representations that I am representing the Body Corporate.
The police/law enforcement arrive and after a few minutes talking with the trespassers, they remove themselves from the property.
Points made in the article
article quote 1: “According to the report the victim alleged that she was pushed by an unknown male whilst at the premises after she was told to move away as it is private property."
response: I am not aware of any video footage of this event, moreover, she simply stood there after the alleged assault while the staff member went back to his workstation to contact me. When I arrive at the scene and realise the trespassers have no intent of co-operating, I immediately contact the CCID officer who then calls law enforcement.
article quote 2: "Josias said after she participated in the campaign event, the CBD was packed because of the minstrels carnival and the sidewalk was packed, so she went into a gate next to the church to stand in the shade with a friend."
response: so in other words, she was not behind the gate because of the campaign event, since it was already over, she was simply behind the gate for "shade". What would stop others from this exact line of reasoning to also loiter in the area. More on this point later.
article quote 3: "So I said if you can please show me where it says this is private property because there are no signs, the gate is unlocked and people are walking in and out the gate."
response: there is a gate that closes automatically along with an intercom by the gate, this should be sufficient for Josias to realise that there is some sort of access control of the area and that it is possible she is actually trespassing. The people she refers to as walking in and out are not using the gate as a thoroughfare, but rather as access to the building. We cannot take responsiblity for wrong conclusions drawn from limited observations by Josias.
article quote 4: "Shortly after that, another man appeared, hurling abuse at Josias and others, which scared Josias, she said, and reminded her of the many victims she dealt with daily as a medical coordinator at the Thuthuzela Clinical Forensic Centre at Karl Bremer Hospital.
response: this is false, I simply identified myself as an owner and member of the Body Corporate, and notified Josias that she along with her two friends were on private property and that she leave. She showed no intent of leaving and at that point I immediately approached the CCID officer. I did not speak to her after I called the CCID officer so the assertion I hurled abuse at her is simply false. Whatever other abuse I may have alleged to have hurled to the hecklers and baiters is recorded on video by the reverend and I leave it for people to decide if indeed it is abuse, or simply facts being stated.
Josias claims to be scared, of what exactly? I am the one that called the CCID and I initiated the call for law enforcement to be on site. If she indeed was assaulted, why did she and her two friends just stand there and wait for me to call law enforcement?
article quote 5: “So many of my victims ended up being severely assaulted, some ended up being r***d. The most painful part was when they say ‘but I called out, I shouted but nobody heard me’. What if I was there at a time when no one else was there, what if there were no bystanders who supported me?” she asked."
response: this is an emotional response which has nothing to do with anything. The Piazza also has had many incidents on days such as the minstrel parade, as Broekmann himself concedes. Broekmann is quick to point out the irony of me stating that the property is private, suggesting that I am unaware that the property is owned by the Church. The great irony here is that when I was a trustee for five years, I was the one that initiated the installation of the gates, specifically to address the security issues the Body Corporate experiences on days like this one, and it is at that time I became aware of the intricacies of that area.
article quote 6: “The person shouting at the gate is not a trustee of the body corporate and does not represent The Piazza on Church Square in any way.
response: I have to wonder, what gives Broekmann the right to make representations on behalf of the Piazza? For two years I have been asking in writing to be notified of trustees meetings, these numerous requests have been ignored. Moreover there has been no AGM since 2019. So how is Broekmann a trustee? Did any of the owners approve the nominations for trustees for the years 2021 and 2022, and what about 2023? did any nomination process take place? Broekman is simply a trustee by inertia, filling a power vacuum by default.
It has been my intention to place on record that I have no confidence in Broekmann and I have communicated this to him in writing last year- at this stage my confidence in the remaining trustees is also at an all time low. The building's access control is problematic, the cameras have failed and those cameras that do work, work intermittently and there is dissent amongst the staff which the trustees seem to be unaware of. And despite all of this, in their infinite wisdom the so called management of the building decided consciously or unconsciously to have one person on duty on one of the busiest days in the City, a day known for security risks at the Piazza.
Broekmann's attempt at wiping his hands clean here may have worked for the general public who reads the article, but he did very little to convince me of anything.
Also Broekmann is right technically in that I do not represent the Body Corporate, but what he fails to appreciate is that I do not want to be associated with the trustees who seem incapable of managing this building appropriately.
article quote 7: “As she was there with someone from the church, in my view she was entitled to be there, but the unpleasantness could have been avoided if the church had just let our manager know in advance.
response: Josias at no point said she received permission from the Church to access that area, she simply asked for proof of this and that as she herself admits to. Also if there was a representative of the Church on site, why did they not bother to say anything throughout the entire drama? Furthermore, we will have to look at the permissions that was requested, and the permissions that were granted, I have not seen any of it. I have my reservations that the Church would grant permission to access that area without informing the Piazza. In my opinion this is a failure in communication which Broekmann is trying to create. Nobody from the Church seems to have made a comment in the article to confirm his position.
article quote 8: “The concierge is simply giving effect to the instructions of the trustees to ensure that access to the area is for bona fide reasons. We have had problems with people abusing the area in the past,” said Broekmann.
response: in my opinion this is all that matters
article quote 9: "He said the trustees would have a meeting to discuss the official response of the body corporate and do whatever was possible to prevent a recurrence."
response: and I guess I won't be notified of this meeting as well...
As already stated, I initiated the installation of the gate, indeed to prevent such situations and indeed it worked while I was a trustee and while the building was functioning. This incident is a reflection on the management of the building and on Josias, anyone else who takes the fall for this is simply a deflection of responsibility.
In conclusion, whats not stated in the article and what can be clearly heard in the video footage that is circulating is that Josias exclaims at the end of the incident "mission accomplished". I am left wondering what mission exactly?
What started as a positive day for Dr Genine Josias, who joined the “Remember Me” campaign in honour of murder victims, turned into a nightmare after she was allegedly assaulted during a row over private property, for standing in the shade next to the Groote Kerk in Adderley Street.
