By Sonica Naudé-Steyn

Residents of the railway homes in Kokstad known as Balloon section, have aired their concerns following an online auction of the property, allegedly without their knowledge. The residents now fear eviction and some even homelessness as many residents are retired or unemployed.
The property in question is situated near the old Kokstad Railway Station and belongs/ed to Transnet. The homes in Balloon area together with railway homes along Scott and Railway Street formerly served as housing for Transnet workers. In the 1990’s most of the railway homes were sold off to private owners, however the Balloon area remained in possession of Transnet and the occupants, mostly former or retired Transnet employees, continued to rent the homes.
This according to long-time resident, Charlé Mentor, who says some of the occupants have been living there for over 30 years. She says the 1700 m2 (approximate) property has 16 homes and one illegally occupied structure.
“My aunt lived in this house before I did. When she passed, I put the lease in my name and we continued to rent the home. No repairs or renovations are done to the homes or the property as a whole by Transnet. Apparently, the last known maintenance took place around 1995, so the occupants take it upon themselves. We recently rubberised our roof to deal with ongoing leaks,” says Charlé.
She says rent was always collected by a Transnet employee on a monthly basis, however tenants were later requested to pay the rent directly into an account. Then in 2019, tenants allegedly received correspondence from Transnet, advising that due to alleged fraudulent activity, rent money should no longer be paid into the former account and that tenants would be supplied with new details. According to Charlé, to date this has not happened and the tenants have not paid rent since.
Then in March 2025 the tenants were notified by Transnet of their intention to auction the property. The letter was signed by Transnet Property Regional Head, Gonnie Nadasen, stating that Sifiso Khumal was the property manager and contact person.
According to Charlé, the residents collectively addressed a letter to Gonnie Nadasen, outlining their concerns and requesting a meeting with a Transnet representative and the option of purchasing the homes they were occupying.
“Gonnie Nadasen replied to the letter and said that the matter would be investigated. In May, Siphesihle Makhaya from Transnet arranged a meeting for 14 May 2025. At this meeting, Mr Makhaya informed us that the properties were no longer going to be auctioned and that tenants would have to complete new lease applications for Transnet Head Office. He also informed us that if the properties were sold, the tenants would get first option to purchase the properties they occupy,” explained Charlé.
Following the meeting, some tenants allegedly started renovations and improvements to the homes due to the belief that they would soon be purchasing the properties. The residents then received a second auction notice, dated 29 May 2025. The residents directed an enquiry to Mr Makhaya, dated 12 June 2025, but received no further correspondence regarding the matter.
“One of my neighbours happened to come across a listing on Property24 where it showed that the Railway property was being auctioned off, online on 5 February 2026. We were never notified of this and Transnet never gave us the option to purchase our own properties,” said Charlé.
The listing on Property24 identified the property as a Commercial Property – Transnet Residential Cluster – Kokstad. It is unclear if the auction went ahead and whether the property was in fact sold. The listing has since been removed.
“Residents were not aware of the auction beyond the notice served on 29 May 2025 and feel that Transnet has not kept to their assurances made in the meeting on 14 May 2025,” said Charlé.
One of the main challenges with the property is that it would have to be subdivided as the area is zoned as one property, however residents were aware of the need for subdivision.
“We even discussed buying the property as a community and working from there but we were never given the chance as promised by Transnet. We pay electricity, water and refuse to the local and district municipalities and our meters are according to plot numbers for each house. So, I don’t understand why we could not have gone through the process of subdivision to allow us to purchase our properties,” says Charlé.
Residents now feel uncertain about the future of their homes and fear eviction as many will face homelessness due to retirement and unemployment. Other fear loosing money spent on renovations, maintenance and improvements.
Residents have started reaching out to various departments and other resources to mitigate the situation. The Greater Kokstad Municipality was also contacted however they have stated that they cannot intervene as the property does not belong to them.
“Greater Kokstad Municipality wishes to inform members of the media and all interested parties that properties at Railway Station are owned by Transnet. The issue of sale and transfer of ownership is upon the discretion of the owner (Transnet) and not the municipality,” said municipal spokesperson, Zolani Siqwayi.
At the time of going to press, no response had been received from Transnet regarding the property. Residents have also not received any further correspondence and currently continue to occupy the homes on the property.

1. Residents of Balloon area (railway Houses) in Kokstad face an uncertain future following an online auction of the property which was allegedly done without their knowledge or communication from Transnet.