A 59-year-old Phoenix mother claims she has been forced to abandon the home she occupied for more than 30 years after enduring what she describes as years of harassment, intimidation, and abuse at the hands of a few members of a neighbouring family, whom she alleges are drug dealers.

Shamin Maharaj, a single mother of four who previously lived in Grove End, alleges that repeated threats, damage to property and intimidation by neighbours at a flat in which she resides have left her too fearful to return home.

In an interview with the Rising Sun, she says that she and her son have been living elsewhere since April this year, while many of their belongings remain inside the property.

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According to Maharaj, the problems date back to when she moved into the flat in 1994, however, what was meant to be a peaceful move into a new home turned into a nightmare.

Over time, Maharaj alleges that relations between herself and members of the neighbouring family deteriorated due to her complaints about their alleged drug dealing and drug abuse.

Maharaj alleged that she would often ask them not to smoke cannabis or engage in drugs or alcohol near her home or windows, and that her complaints led to them bullying and intimidating her household.

She claims the alleged abuse included verbal harassment, threats, and repeated acts of malicious damage to her property.

One of the incidents allegedly occurred in 2020 when windows of her home were smashed while her children were inside. Maharaj said one of her daughters was studying for her matric trial examinations when glass shattered into the room.

“My daughter was studying when they broke the windows. The glass cut her face, and my younger daughter had a panic attack,” she claimed.

The family temporarily left the property following the incident but later returned because their belongings remained in the house and her daughter needed access to her school books while preparing for her final examinations.

Maharaj alleges the intimidation continued in the years that followed. She believes tensions escalated after she prevented her youngest son from associating with the neighbouring family.

According to Maharaj, she discovered that her son had allegedly been used as a runner to deliver alcohol for members of the family. Concerned that he was being drawn into criminal activity, she said she stopped him from having any further involvement.

“That’s my child. I told him if he wanted to do those things, he must go and stay with them because I wasn’t going to allow it. If I had left him, today he would have been involved in that lifestyle,” she said.

She believes that decision made her family the target of further hostility. “They grudged me for everything after that. Every few months, something would happen again. It just never stopped,” she alleged. Despite reporting numerous incidents to the police over several years, Maharaj alleges she received little assistance.

“The justice system failed us. Every time we opened a case, it either disappeared, was withdrawn or nothing came of it,” she further claimed.

One of the few matters that did result in a conviction was a malicious damage to property case opened in February 2025 after one of the family members’ allegedly broke a window at Maharaj’s residence. The accused was subsequently convicted and ordered to pay a R1, 500 fine.

Maharaj alleges that the conviction was secured only after intervention by the local Community Policing Forum (CPF), which helped ensure the matter was properly investigated by the Phoenix SAPS. However, she says the conviction did not end the alleged harassment.

Maharaj says the situation reached its breaking point over the Easter weekend in April 2026. According to Maharaj, her son had returned from a nearby shop when members of the neighbouring family confronted them.

She alleges that the group attempted to assault both her and her son before threatening to set their home alight while they were still inside.

“I heard everything over the phone,” said Sanusha Singh, Maharaj’s daughter, during the interview. According to Singh, she and her husband were on the phone with Shamin during the altercation and could hear her mother’s neighbours forcefully attempting to gain entry into the flat by attempting to break the door down.

She alleged that during the call, she could hear one of them ask for petrol and that they were going to use it to set the flat on fire.

“All I could hear was screaming and banging. We honestly believed they were going to burn them alive,” she added.

She alleges that repeated calls for police assistance initially went unanswered before officers eventually arrived after she went to the police station. Fearing for their lives, Maharaj and her family abandoned the property.

“We left with only what we had on us. Everything we worked for is still there. I can’t go back because I’m scared,” she said.

The incident was subsequently reported to Durban Central SAPS. However, Maharaj alleges that the case number she received corresponds to an unrelated matter, leaving her uncertain whether the incident she reported is being investigated.

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Four months later, Maharaj says she remains displaced and fears returning to the property. She also claims she has since been informed that thieves were seen entering her home during her absence, raising concerns that some of the family’s possessions may have been stolen.

“I can’t go home, and I can’t even sell the property because of everything that’s happened. We just want to live in peace,” she said.

The SAPS was contacted to provide comment on the above allegations, however, no response was received at the time of publication.