Temporary shelters reveal the cold facts
“JUST how temporary is a temporary shelter meant to be?” asked a 56-year-old Komgha man who has been living in his “temporary shelter” for the past four years.
Ronald Ngqandu from Komgha’s old location said the recent bad weather had revealed the frailties of the shelter he shares with his wife, two children and a grandchild.
“I’ve been staying in this shelter for the past four years with no answers of where and when am I going to get a proper home,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate what government does for us but we see no future. The roof is broken and in winter, it gets really cold.”
Ngqandu was a political activist in the Komgha area in the 1980s and his case was heard at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“My life is not like other political activists. I did get some money but it was not enough to sustain me and my family forever,” he said. He was given his current temporary shelter after he complained that the mud house he was living in at the time was on verge of collapse.
The Daily Dispatch wrote about his plight in 2011.
“I need a house for my children before I die,” he said this week. “What will I leave my children with?”
Not far from Ngqandu’s home, live 50 other families in similar shelters in an area called Zone 10.
These families were moved to the area from a farm and a plan was made to initially accommodate them in the temporary shelters. Zone 10 resident, 75- year-old Yayase Nene said all she prayed for was a proper house with electricity and running water.
“Since I came here I never felt safe. People can just kick this shelter open and gain entry.”
Nearby about 500 toilets are under construction but residents are not sure if they are for them.
Eastern Cape department of human settlements spokesman, Lwandile Sicwetsha said: “We are doing our best to relocate people to better and proper houses.” — bonganif@dispatch.