Long wait for BCM to rebuild houses irks folks
NOLANDILE Deki, 78, will take the pain of waiting for Buffalo City Metro to rebuild her storm damaged home to the grave when she is buried next Saturday.
These were the painful words from her 48-year-old son, Bongani Nako, when the Saturday Dispatch visited their Pozi village home in Tsholomnqa, some 44km outside East London.
The home Deki shared with her three sons Bongani, Phuthumile, 33, and Kholisile, 28, – was demolished around 2011, along with other 169 homes, after a storm wreaked havoc in the 25 Tsholomnqa villages.
BCM committed R17-million to rebuild 153 disaster homes. A report tabled in council on Wednesday revealed that BCM was able to build 121 of the 153 homes. The report states that the disaster was declared as a high priority by the department of human settlements.
“Human settlements appointed a contractor to construct 20 units and left the balance of 150 housing units unattended,” then acting BCM human settlements head Andile Mshumpela said in the report.
It further states that a funding agreement, which was not part of the report, was concluded between DHS and the metro leading to the latter appointing a contractor during the 2015-16 financial years.
“Unfortunately, the contract had to be terminated in May 2016,” the report said.
It could not be established why it was terminated as BCM did not respond to follow up questions.
“In November 2016, BCMM appointed Mazcon construction to rebuild 150 disaster houses, currently the contractor is on site,” Mshumpela said in his report, adding that the project was expected to be completed by last month.
However, villagers are still waiting for their houses to be built.
Nako said the family had replaced their mud rondavel with a one-room corrugated zinc shack “to have a place to hide their heads”.
“The waiting was painful for my mother. The pain of waiting for a house is the one thing she will take to the grave with her. We are still waiting because we have no other hope,” Nako said.
The three brothers are unemployed with Nako saying they had previously depended on their mother’s old-age pension.
“We would love BCM to come and build us a house in our mother’s honour.”
This is not an isolated incident as Ntombizakhe Mshiywa was also affected by the storm. The unemployed mother of four, has had to make do with a one-room shack wherehe mud house once stood.
She continues to wait to hear from the municipality. —