The monster of shoddy RDP work projects has turned its attention to at least nine residents at Mahatlani village near Masakona.
Most of these RDP houses were built between 2003 and 2009, but they were damaged by seasonal storms through the years. “I moved into my new RDP house and a week later I noticed that the roofing was squeaky and shaking in the slightest breeze,” said Ms Rahisa Makhubele (51).
“Then a storm blew it off one night in 2011, and ever since then we have been without a stable shelter. My house was just a heap of rubbish, which the builders had erected in my yard. It had big holes between the roofing and the last brick line. The walls and the floors were not plastered – neither were doors installed to divide the rooms. No wonder a storm blew it off.”
Makhubele tried to alert the local ward committee about her problem, and requested help for a temporary shelter from the Makhado Municipality. However, no help was given to her from the municipality.
Ms Anna Manganyi (48) is visually impaired and lives alone in a shoddily built RDP house. The floor inside her house has potholes as if it were a damaged road. She had put some bricks on top of her house's roof to prevent the sheets from being blown away.
“The builders didn't mix the sand with enough cement,” she said. “On windy days, my neighbours invite me to spend a night in their homes. They say it's not safe for me, which is true. The roof sheets rattle noisily, and I always feel afraid and try to slip under the bed for cover. But then I couldn't fit under the bed; as you can see, I am a big Mama.”
However, a neighbour advised her to remove all the bricks from the roof since they might fall on her and kill her.
The local Sanco's representative, Sammy Mabasa, said that they understood that the government had tried to deliver services to the people. He added that the government must stop giving tenders to friends of governmental officials because all those contractors eventually failed to do the right work.
“They just misuse the funds and render cheap work as they know that they will not be held accountable for all their wrongdoing since they have friends in government positions,” he said. “I remember I had brought the case of these nine residents to the attention of the mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr David Mutavhatsindi. But then he only sent officials to assess the damage in the homes of the affected residents in 2013. Since then, he has done nothing.”
Makhado Municipality's spokesperson, Louis Bobodi, said that Mutavhatsindi would not be drawn into commenting. “The municipality has already submitted the list (of affected residents) to COGHSTA,” he said.
A media inquiry was sent to COGHSTA's spokesperson, Mr Motupa Selomo, to verify if the list of affected residents had been forwarded to his offices. The newspaper also wanted to know if COGHSTA will be be helping these people any time soon. However, Selomo had not returned a response at the time of going to press.
