Hideous or not, pink stays

2003-03-11 10:25

Somerset West - The "pink marshmallow" in an upmarket suburb here might be a sore eye for some, however, resident and city fathers are powerless to change it.

Somerset West municipality said on Monday Dr Manduleli Bikitsha has not contravened any council rules by painting his new luxury home in Somerset Ridge shocking pink.

Municipal spokesperson Lisle Brown said the council has no regulation or policy on colour or architectural design for houses. "He has the right to paint his house any colour he likes."

Bikitsha, a Khayelitsha doctor says pink is his favourite colour and his wife and five sons love it.

"It's bad when people interfere in my private affairs. I can't understand why a bright, cheerful and friendly colour should elicit such reaction. Not one person in the neighbourhood has had the decency to come and tell me they don't like it. Suddenly I have to hear about it from an out of the way source.

"But I can tell you this: I'm going to fight for my pink house. It has symbolic meaning to me and is the colour my ancestors saw in a vision and told me to use."

The interior of the house of more than R1 million is to be painted white and peach. It is expected to be completed by April and has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a lounge, diningroom, family room, pool and double garage.

Negative impact

Deon van Zyl of Heartland Properties, the developer of Somerset Ridge, says it is a situation "people should face with an open mind".

"The home's colour is not in compliance with sales conditions. We will be guided by the local authority," he said.

Estate agents say not only does the shocking pink house have a negative impact on the value of surrounding property but reselling adjacent homes would be difficult.

Lauretta Diab an estate agent who lives near the pink house said residents were given guidelines and told to paint their homes in autumn colours. "Until the pink house, nobody deviated from the colour guidelines. It's a shocking colour, hideous and bad for the area. Bikitsha wants to turn this into a racial issue," Diab said.

"We discussed the issue at a residents' meeting and people expressed their dissatisfaction. Nobody said they didn't like the house because he is black. People are indignant because of the pink colour."

Rita Jones of Rita Jones estate agents said Bikitsha is "a bit wilful".

"When you are building homes at R1 million, you cannot allow paint colour to detract from the value of surrounding property," she said.

- Die Burger