Six-year wait and still no house for blind DV man
A BLIND Duncan Village man, who lives alone in a temporary wooden shelter, feels abandoned by the government as he has been waiting for an RDP house for six years.
Sibongile Mdyobo, 44, lives in his home with its walls breaking down around him, despite two councillors over the years promising to provide for him.
Human Settlements spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha confirmed that Mdyobo’s name is on the list of people who are supposed to be beneficiaries of an RDP house, however the delay was in finding suitable land on which to build him a home.
Said Mdyobo: “I used to live in a shack and when I was placed in this temporary home I was told that after three years I would be moved to a proper house.”
When the Daily Dispatch visited him, the small two-roomed shelter which is built in the yard of his adoptive mother, Makhumalo Mdyobo, had cracks in its walls.
“They (human settlements) said we must identify a site on which to build a temporary house and I said they could build it here. This house is now falling apart and we have to patch it using tape,” she said.
Makhumalo, 65, who is a relative of Mdyobo’s, has been looking after him since he lost his sight in 2008.
“I do everything for him but the conditions here are worsening. The hospital’s rehabilitation unit ordered that he should receive an RDP house because the conditions he was previously living under were not proper for someone living with his condition,” she said.
Sibongile said they were battling to contact ward councillor Kuhle Ciliza. “I have tried numerous times to get hold of her …. She knows my situation,” he said.
Efforts to get hold of Ciliza yesterday were unsuccessful as her phone was off. Calls to her personal assistant were also unanswered.
Sicwetsha said Mdyobo qualifies for a house through human settlement’s Destitute and Vulnerable Groups Programme which is specifically designed to assist groups such as the disabled and elderly be fasttracked for a home.
“He is supposed to be prioritised and I can confirm that he is on the list,” said Sicwetsha. “We (with BCM) are looking at the available housing projects that we could include him in. We will be in liaison with him when a slot prevails. He will receive it but only when we can identify the place.” —