Meeting over shoddy homes
Officials, residents to decide together on action
ATASK team of Nelson Mandela Bay municipal officials and Motherwell NU29 residents will decide the future of the 162 shoddy semidetached double-storey units, some of which are deemed unsafe.
The Bay’s housing bigwigs had a meeting with about 100 NU29 residents yesterday to inform them about the badly built homes, which they likened to coffins.
The community was relatively accepting of the situation, which could see many – if not all – beneficiaries moved out of their houses so that they can be fixed.
Human settlements political head councillor Nqaba Bhanga and acting executive director Luthando Mabhoza addressed the gathering in an open field near the semidetached doublestorey units yesterday.
The residents demanded that a solution be sought for the massive construction bungle, which Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s intervention team believes was as a result of municipal officials not obtaining approval for the project.
Resident Babalwa Kwanene, 34, said: “I would like a promise that these coffins will be fixed soon, although I understand that you are not responsible for [them].”
However, other residents felt no need for rebuilding, as they felt their homes were habitable.
Andiswa Vimba, 32, said: “I don’t see any problem with my house.
“I believe the contractors knew what they were doing and made [no] mistake when they built my house.
“There would be no need to move me or build a new house.”
But Mabhoza warned that although some residents might not see obvious structural problems with their homes, he would be happy to point them out.
“You might not see the problem with your house because you are not an engineer,” he said.
“But an engineer would be able to point out all the problems.
“These houses will not last more than five years. They are a danger and could collapse on you.
“So there is a problem,” Mabhoza said.
It is still unclear what the city will do to resolve the debacle, especially in the light of Sisulu’s decision earlier this year that the national government would no longer pay for fixing RDP houses.
She had said that the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) should recover any money lost on shoddily built houses from contractors. The 162 Motherwell units were, however, approved by the NHBRC.
Bhanga said there was a possibility that all the houses would have to be demolished and built from scratch.
“There are general structural problems and the project as a whole is tainted because processes were not followed correctly.
“One of the things we need to do is to demolish all the houses and identify alternative sites.
“These will need to be serviced.
“It is our duty to ensure that when we have structural problems like these our people are safe,” Bhanga said.
He pleaded with the residents to take the initiative in finding possible solutions.
Some community representatives will form a task team with municipal officials.
“What we need now is the community to be directly involved in this project to ensure that things are done in an orderly manner,” Bhanga said.
“We will go through that process in consultation with the community, so they understand the danger and the state they are in because of this project.”
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Bhanga and mayor Athol Trollip visited housing projects in Uitenhage and Despatch.
Trollip said there was a big housing backlog.
“The main challenge we face is that as soon as residents see that houses are being built on a different site, they start to build shacks nearby, in areas that are not serviced,” he said.
“Houses are few, but the backlog is huge.
“But Nqaba [Bhanga] and I will [find] solutions to these problems.”
He said a new database system would be set up for non-homeowners to ensure that houses were allocated fairly.