RDP home ‘may collapse’
WHEN Hagashni Munsami moved into an RDP house 12 years ago, she was overjoyed.
All her life she had lived in a tin house without electricity, water or proper sanitation and receiving a home of her own was a dream come true.
Her joy, however, was short lived.
The structure, she said, is deteriorating and, with no money to spare, she is unable to repair and maintain the property.
Munsami, 43, was born in Welbedacht and shares the one-bedroom home with her husband, Calvin Govender, also 43, two of her three children and her grandchild.
The home has a bathroom and one room which has been divided into a kitchen and two additional bedrooms.
To generate an income, Munsami runs a tuck shop from her home, selling sweets, chips, fruit and vegetables.
“My husband and children have also tried to find jobs but it is not easy. We care for my grandchild using the child support grant we receive from the government every month. The tuck shop makes less than R100 a day and that is under R700 a week.”
Munsami said that with the minuscule profit, she had to buy additional stock, prepaid electricity and food.
“We also pay a water bill of R300 a month. This is not an easy life,” she said.
“The home we received is falling apart. The structure is not good. It’s just blocks, cement and a roof. It was not plastered or painted and the blocks are weak. When it rains, the water floods our place.
“We do not have the money to do repairs. We try to fix minor things here and there but that is all we can do. I am afraid our house will collapse on us one day.”
She said although she was grateful she had a roof over her head and those of her family, she feared living there. “But we have no choice.” Munsami has complained to councillors but nothing, she said, had been done.