This house can collapse at any time

A hole inside Margaret's house.

This house can collapse at any time

The biggest fear of the 54-year-old Ms Margate Nevombe, who lives in Ha-Mandiwana in Nzhelele, is that her house will collapse and injure her and her two granddaughters. Her RDP house, built in 2000, is literally falling apart.

“When rains and heavy winds come I fear for my safety and that of my grandchildren, because the whole house shakes,” explained Nevombe. “This house can collapse any time. I just hope that when it does I am not inside, nor any of my granddaughters.”

The situation in the Nevombe household is far from ideal. She is unemployed and still has to wait for a number of years to start collecting an elderly social grant. Only one of her grandchildren receives a social grant. The other one is not eligible, because she does not have a birth certificate.

When Limpopo Mirror visited the house, it was clear that the structure is not solid. The gaps in the walls are so big that one can easily see what is happening outside when in the house. To make matters worse the RDP house was built without a toilet. “They dug a toilet pit and left it like that. When my grandchildren were growing up I use to fear that they might fall in the toilet pit,” she said. “Since 2000 I have been using the neighbour’s toilet.”

The ward councillor, Cllr Stella Madula, promised to visit the family. She also asked business people who can land a hand to help renovate the Nevombe family home to contact her.

Margaret with her granddaughters in front of the dilapidated house.

Margaret looking at a toilet pit that was left by the builders.

Date:22 April 2018

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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