Aan de Wijnlanden Estate - Housing complex Stellenbosch

Good day. I would like to share my experience with everyone who is interested. Trying to escalate matters via suggested channels, is simply not working. So. Where do I start my review?

So many things have happened over the past 12 months whilst being a resident in ADW (Aan de Wijnlanden) estate. I am an extremely unhappy property owner. My basic expectations are just not being met. Let me share some examples: When I moved in, basic safety for residents was not in place and it took the team about 7 months to react to my safety and liability concerns as an HOA member. PPE for the security team took even longer. I was told that even though the estate is 6/7 years old, they are taking baby steps (on safety? Really?).

Our office staff (2 ladies) who really tries to manage the estate is under enormous pressure, it is crystal clear that two people is not enough to run the estate effectively – nothing is being done about this.

When we as residents/owners have concerns, and attempts to set up a meeting with the trustees, they are simply not available for us who work 8-5pm during the week, they decline meetings outside office hours are specifically available Tuesdays 10h30 ONLY. Trustees also do not share any meeting minutes or inform the owners of what is in the pipeline or up for consideration in the estate – absolutely no transparency. Currently we have only 4 trustees for 450+ houses – they are not willing to appoint more trustees.

Documents available on our shared platform is outdated. Admin confirmed they had software issues for weeks on end, again, nothing was being done about the matter. We have a call centre to log queries via an App, but there are instances where I have waited literally for several months to get some form of feedback on queries, and, some queries were just ignored, still to this day no feedback. Even better: some logged calls were merely closed to get the reported concerns off the radar! The intended Help Desk function on the App is simply not working, due to poor administration.

The call centre is confidential, but it has come to my attention that some trustee/s happily discuss these confidential matters with other residents, making it exactly clear who reported what. How does this comply with the POPI act, which clearly states that it includes private correspondence? I reported this matter and it was swept under the carpet. Tried email comms – also ignored.

Warnings and fines to residents are not regulated, issued on a “how do I feel today”-basis, extremely inconsistent.

The garden opposite my house is not maintained and the ****s are flourishing. We apparently do not have money for grass and I have to live with that. I was told left-over grass from future new houses might be suitable. When the lawn is mowed, the workers cut around all the molehills and leave it as is. Last year we reported an overgrown pond, polluted with ****s and reeds, more than 12 months later, nothing done about the issue, total neglect. Some areas of the garden are really embarrassing.

When we try to ask questions on the various ADW Whatsapp groups available, our messages are deleted, or you are kicked off groups by admin because they felt like it – no valid reason, we did ask. I was told to my face by admin that I need to focus on “the positive” and overlook things which are wrong. (Heyy??) Do these staff members even know their salaries are paid from our levies? With these poor attitudes are they entitled to a bonus or an increase? When asking about KPI’s and SLA’s, we are told the trustees will manage that.

Factual comments on Facebook are also deleted. The ADW team are constructing a misleading perception for everyone outside the ADW walls. Even our internal newsletter is sugar coated. There is a toxic culture at play and individuals are being targeted and victimised if they raise any alarms. Referring to all my evidence, I can say that the estate is mismanaged, owners and residents are ignored, and the fat cats are smiling at the suckers who invested. And yes, I am keeping record of everything.

Follow me for more reviews as I continue to try and make the best of my days in Aan de Wijnlanden. I will keep you updated on this platform by posting reviews regularly.

#aandewijnlanden #stellenbosch #unhappyowner #regret