Riddle of the raggedy RDP houses
Seven years after Sexwale’s visit, East Bank residents have seen their hopes – and homes – crumble
ELECTIONS have come and gone and ministers have come and gone, but people in some communities continue to live in near-uninhabitable homes.
It was in 2009 that the then-minister of human settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, promised people living in sub-standard RDP houses in East London their houses would be rebuilt.
Seven years later, the residents of East Bank in Buffalo Flats are still waiting. They are not able to get authorities to act decisively or swiftly.
Evelyn Wood moved into an RDP house in East Bank in 2003. At first she was happy, but it was not long before the walls and roof started to crack and the rain dripped in.
She says she and other residents complained to the municipality, to no avail.
“We spent almost six years in (these houses) until Tokyo Sexwale instructed the Buffalo City Municipality to move us immediately to temporary homes.”
Sexwale promised that the government would spend R300 million fixing badly built RDP houses in the Eastern Cape.
Nombulelo Mabandla, who was then the MEC for human settlements, promised to consider blacklisting contractors who did not complete houses properly.
But seven years later, Wood and many other residents continue to live in temporary homes next to their RDP houses.
Wood said: “When it’s raining I have to put buckets inside the house and at night we must put plastic bags on the bed to prevent our blankets from getting wet.”
Adriaan Job, 85, says his temporary house has not had a power supply since rain damaged the electrical box.
The front door of his RDP house next door is falling apart.
“It has been seven years that I have been staying in this small house. I must put buckets up when it is raining, store away my appliances, and cover up with plastic bags when I sleep,” says Job.
He has complained several times to the council, without success.
Jennifer Mbanga, who lives with her family in an RDP house near the main sewerage drain, says her husband has reported problems with their house several times to the municipal offices.
Buffalo City spokesman Sibusiso Cindi said the municipality was not aware of the poor quality of the houses in East Bank, but would investigate.
“Our policy is that when low-cost houses have been poorly built, we rectify them at no cost to the owner. I believe this is what will likely hap- pen to the residents after we’ve done our investigations.”
Sexwale was minister of human settlements until July 2013. Lindiwe Sisulu is now the minister.
Lwandile Sicwetsha, from the Human Settlements Department, said: “Due to a large number of houses needing rectification, the minister cannot go ahead with the plan to rectify all these houses. It takes time and money.”
The National Home Builders Registration Council should take responsibility because it had issued certificates, Sicwetsha said. It should find the contractors and make them repair the homes.
Samkelo Gqeba, spokesman for the registration council in East London, said a technical team would investigate.