‘Shoddy homes’ protest along N2
A GROUP of residents from Asanda Village in Lwandle, Strand, blocked traffic on the N2 when they marched to the Asla construction company’s offices to protest against the state of their RDP houses that the company built.
The protesters handed over a memorandum which read: “We, as the residents of Asanda Village, want Asla to replace the asbestos roofs with metal sheet roofs. We want our houses fixed because they leak when it is raining because they are not properly built.”
The residents said they were sick as a result of the asbestos and were able to see outside through the cracks in their walls.
They said they had to vacate their homes in winter because rain came through the cracks and flooded them.
Thandikhaya Mtumtum, a resident, said the cracks in his walls were so bad that when it was windy the walls shook, and the floors were flooded when it rained.
“The walls inside my house are not straight. This is how badly built our houses are,” he said.
Mtumtum said he feared for his life because one day while he was sleeping, his walls might fall on him and that it would be easy for criminals to break down the walls.
“It would be better if the house would be properly built from scratch.”
Asla’s Tony Byleveldt said they had received the complaints from the residents for the first time but they would take them into consideration.
Byleveldt said: “We will study the memorandum and investigate their complaints before we can respond within the 14 days they have given us.”
Police spokesperson Andre Traut confirmed that a peaceful protest in Lwandle had been monitored by the police.
Traut said approximately 120 residents of the area had protested against a construction company for building poor quality houses.