AN unemployed woman from Chris Hani location in Mthatha, Nosisa Bashala (48), appealed to the Department of Human Settlement in the Eastern Cape to fulfil its promise of building an RDP house for her.
Bashala said this promise was made in December 2010 but has still not been fulfilled.
According to Bashala, her four-roomed house was destroyed by a heavy storm. Her husband, Mlamli Mazithambe (53), was critically injured in the incident.
“The house collapsed on top of him. He died a few days after this incident happened. The department brought a temporary structure, after that the construction company came and built a slab, with the aim of starting to build the house we were promised, but then they vanished into thin air,” said Bashala.
She said that after the slab was finished, she received a call from the people who said they were bringing building material to her yard, but they never arrived.
She confirmed that she was sharing the temporary structure with her 13 children and grandchildren.
Bashala added that the structure was not in a good condition because when it rained, the water came in.
“I am not employed. We only survive on the grant of three children. I appeal to the department to fulfil its promise. I tried to make a follow up but I did not get any help.”
The spokesperson for the Department of Human Settlement, Yanga Funani, said the beneficiary had been approved in a project called OR Tambo 85, and that the contractor that was appointed was terminated due to poor performance. But due to departmental commitments, the project had taken time to be restarted.
“Temporary shelter is guaranteed for six months, although it can last longer than that depending on how one looks after it. A contractor has already been appointed by the department to build not only for this one but also for 260 units around King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality,” said Funani. He confirmed that the contractor had started with planning, and construction would start in July, and the house would be completed by end of September. A temporary shelter would be provided after the department had assessed the home.
