MEC Pieters gifts gran with a home to call her own
An 87-year-old grandmother who has lived in a shack for decades was unable to contain her joy when receiving a proper home at the weekend.
Rural villagers in Sterkspruit were handed keys to their new RDP homes by Eastern Cape human settlements MEC Nonkqubela Pieters.
The MEC made her way to Mlamli and Voyizana villages on Saturday to hand over new houses to 21 destitute families.
Tears rolled down the face of Voyizana resident Nondlela Mafirivane when she took ownership of her house.
“It never dawned on me that today I would own a home,” she said. “I never said I would have such a beautiful house.”
Inclement weather is a constant threat to the villagers.
Mafirivane said she was always scared her shack would collapse on top of her and her granddaughter.
Ten kilometres away in Mlamli village, Zukiswa Mgqwagqwa fought back tears as Pieters and Senqu mayor Nomvuyo Mphoselwa handed her 102-year-old grandfather Zoniselo Mbhovu keys to a new
RDP house.
Mbhovu had lived in a dilapidated mud rondavel with his four grandchildren for years. Mgqwagqwa told Pieters that the family had given up hope of getting a proper house from the government.
“We said by the time the house would be finished, my grandfather would be long gone,” she said.
The RDP houses are part of a government rural housing project in Sterkspruit.
More than 500 homes will be completed, of which 350 had since been handed over to beneficiaries.
Pieters said the 21 homes were part of her department’s efforts to protect the most vulnerable from the Covid-19 pandemic, especially now that winter had arrived. “The total project value is R72m,” she said.
She said while the demand for housing was great among Eastern Cape communities, the budget allocations were not enough to satisfy that demand.
“The department prioritises the elderly, disabled, childheaded families and military veterans, thereby restoring their dignity through the provision of decent quality homes,” Pieters said.
Provincial human settlements spokesperson Masiza Mazizi said the project had commenced in 2018 but had run into delays because of disagreements between local companies which were roped in as subcontractors.
The weather had also caused delays.