‘I cry every day for a proper home’
“ALL we have ever wanted is proper brick homes,” said Mala Chinnsamy of Malagazi near Isipingo.
Chinnsamy, 49, has lived in her three-room informal dwelling for more than 30 years. Her three sons, her brother and their respective families have also built wood-and-iron homes on the same plot.
She claimed the seven-hectare land belonged to her late grandfather and that it was later passed on to her father, who has since died. But over the years, Chinnsamy said other people began building informal structures on the property.
Chinnsamy, a widow, said 25 years ago she applied for a house at the old Isipingo Town Board.
“I often checked on the progress of that application and I eventually gave up.”
She said about 10 years ago, she then applied for an RDP home in Cornubia.
“I heard that people were going to be given houses, so I also applied. I was then allocated a single unit at a transit camp in Isipingo, which we were told we could stay in until the houses in Cornubia were ready.
“During this time, after I moved all my belongings to the transit camp, my grandson was born, and I went to Port Shepstone for a weekend to see him. When I returned, someone else had taken over the room and stolen all my belongings. I could not do anything, and the home I thought I would get in Cornubia never happened.”
Chinnsamy, who is unemployed, said: “If we cannot get brick homes, the government should at least make our living conditions bearable. It is frustrating seeing others get RDP homes, but we have been forgotten.”
Kanambal Rabikisson, 58, has also lived in her wood-and-iron home for 25 years. The widow lives with her two sons and a daughter. They have casual jobs. Her other two children also live in informal dwellings in the area.
“We could not afford the rent in an outbuilding and ended up here. The landlord allowed my family to build a two-room home with the materials donated by a church. My late husband later built another room, which we could use as a kitchen. Back then, my mother-in-law went to the Isipingo Town Board to apply for a house. We went back to these offices so many times, but nothing happened. My mother-in-law died waiting for a proper house.”
She said their beds and furniture got wet when it rained as they could not afford to patch up the structure.
“I have to use plastic packets to cover the few appliances I have, as I will not be able to replace them. The wood frame of our house is rotting and has borers, which fall on my head
when I sleep. I cry every day as nobody in the government can help me and my family. I am old and sickly. All I ever dreamed of is a proper home for me and my family.”