Dogged De Lille stands her ground

A Pinelands woman is barking mad at her neighbour, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille and her three Siberian Huskies.

Cape Town - A Pinelands woman is barking mad at her neighbour, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille and her three Siberian Huskies.

Wendy Abrahams has complained that De Lille’s dogs - described by the mayor as “like my children” in a Drum magazine interview this month - howl incessantly.

De Lille said Abrahams, who lives across the road from her, was lying and seeking attention.

“I’ve advised her what to do... she must just go to the police,” said the mayor.

De Lille’s dogs have lived at her home for more than a decade and in that time none of her other neighbours had complained about them, she said.

The mayor said she had spent nearly two hours scrutinising security camera footage from her residence to establish if her dogs had been howling frequently, but she could not find any evidence to substantiate Abrahams’s claims. She did, however, have evidence of Abrahams’s house alarm sounding unnecessarily, she said.

“It’s an absolute lie (about my dogs). I’ve got evidence of her alarm going off all the time.”

Abrahams - who has three Jack Russells - told Weekend Argus the pooch problem had been gnawing at her for months. She was approaching the media as a last resort to address the issue.

Abrahams and her family moved to Pinelands last January, and had expected the suburb to be quiet. The tranquillity, she said, was interrupted by the howling of De Lille’s dogs, usually after 7pm or when there were visitors at the mayor’s home.

She had written two letters to De Lille about the dogs, she said. “I love my neighbours, I love people and yes I love dogs. I do think that it is unfair and inconsiderate to have dogs imposing on your neighbours’ peace and quiet,” her second letter said.

De Lille phoned her in December, Abrahams said, in response to her letters and told her she could go to the police to lay a charge against her.

Abrahams said she had also considered approaching the city to complain, but feared that De Lille’s position as mayor would prevent her from being helped.

De Lille said the matter began prior to Abrahams sending her the letters of complaint - she had first received a letter from Abrahams about a friend of Abrahams who had a problem which she hoped the mayor could assist in solving.

De Lille advised Abrahams rather to take the matter up officially.

When Weekend Argus visited Abrahams’s home, De Lille’s dogs could not be heard howling, nor did Abrahams’s home alarm sound.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Weekend Argus