Mthatha granny, 70, sleeps on bed for first time in 45 years
THE last time Nothaweni Mantente, 70, slept on a decent bed inside a proper house was when she was 25 years old.
For 45 years she had no choice but to sleep on a mattress in a tiny shack she and her children called home.
Most times that meant waking up with a sore back and aching bones.
Things also got worse on rainy days when water would seep in through the cracks between the zinc sheets and she would develop flu.
But not any more. She now has not just one bed – but two – in a fourroomed RDP house complete with two bedrooms, an insulated ceiling, shower, toilet and kitchen with a fitted sink, all thanks to King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality.
Mantente was one of 40 people to receive an RDP home on Friday.
The handover formed part of a R203-million housing project started by the authorities on 66 hectares of prime land in Masizithathele informal settlement or KwaRay near Mayden Farm about 5km outside Mthatha. Dubbed Mayden Farm Extension, the project will ultimately see more than 1 100 housing units constructed by the state, including schools, clinics and commercial premises.
For Mantente, who is unemployed and relies on a pension, her new house means she is able to lead a “normal life”.
She previously lived at Sharply informal settlement, a stone’s throw from her new house.
“I will now be able to sleep peacefully at night without having to worry about anything else,” she said, while admiring her two new double beds donated to her and other elderly beneficiaries by authorities.
Her life has been one of hardship and misfortune. Despite applying for an RDP home 22 years ago, she found herself having to cook food on a fire outside and walk long distances to collect water from a communal tap in her informal settlement.
However, she now has her own electrical stove and kettle, and water flows from taps inside her own house.
“I had already given up hope of getting a house. Now I feel human again,” she told the Daily Dispatch with tears streaming down her face moments after being handed her house keys.
Fellow beneficiary, Thembinkosi Nobhala, a 70-year-old father of seven, was also thrilled to get a house.
“I am so grateful for what they have done,” he said, adding that he wanted to start his own vegetable garden and sell the produce.
KSD mayor Dumani Zozo urged the beneficiaries to take great pride in their houses.
“Unfortunately the process of getting a house sometimes takes longer because there is corruption in the process. What should be happening is that people who are meant to get houses, should get houses.
“Now there are people who are not supposed to be getting houses that end up getting them. And that is the corruption we are trying to fight,” he said. —