A resident of two years in the Johannesburg building where a woman died allegedly because of a defective lift, says there had been malfunctions for a long period of time.

“The lift has been a constant problem there. It stops mid-floors. It would get stuck and then start moving again. It would stop and it would be in the middle of two floors. It would also get stuck in the basement. We told them to fix the lifts, saying it’s going to cause a problem,” Bea Campbell-Cloete told News24 on Sunday.

READ: Johannesburg woman dead after cable snaps, shooting lift up 26 floors

Campbell-Cloete rented an apartment on the 26^th floor where a woman in her 40s died on Sunday – this after she was trapped in a lift at the 120 End Street High Rise building in Doornfontein in Johannesburg.

The cable allegedly snapped and shot up 26 floors. ER24 paramedics attempted to stabilise the woman; however, access was lifted because the lift was unstable.

Two other male passengers managed to escape the lift with one crawling free through the remaining gap between the top of the interior door and bottom of the lift door.

‘Three lifts not working’

Campbell-Cloete was in the process of moving furniture out when she came across the incident.

“When we turned into the road, we saw ambulances and the fire brigade. We hoped someone wasn’t hurt or mugged. We went up and got on the 26^th floor and saw people everywhere. Everyone was in shock and could not believe this happened. Many said they would be moving out.”

She said that the building initially had good working lifts, a total of six, but that as recent as a few weeks ago, just three had been working.

“It tells you that there is a problem. Sometimes the lifts would keep going up and down stop between floors.”

One of the building supervisors, only identified as Solly, declined to comment. He further declined to refer News24 to any building management.

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