Early Christmas for 480 families
Occupants expected to move into newly developed complex soon
CHRISTMAS has come early for hundreds of Diepsloot residents after 480 RDP houses were handed over to those in need in Riverside View.
Blood, sweat and tears were the order of the day yesterday as construction workers were hard at work finishing off the buildings at the newly developed complex.
Riverside View is located north of Steyn City and south of Diepsloot.
The neighbourhood is fairly peaceful, clean and aesthetically pleasing.
Despite the houses being handed over last week, occupants have not as yet moved in and will only do so in the first week of next month.
According to Gauteng D e p a r t ment of Human S e t t l e ment s spokesperson Keith Khoza, the project had p r o g r e s s e d fairly well, and one of the major benefits of the mega project was social integration, because the area consists of RDP and bond houses.
The social cohesion would discourage poverty and improve the lives of South Africans by allowing them to interact and engage with people of different classes, he said.
Despite the government building 1.2 million houses since 1996, there are currently 600 000 people on the waiting list to get accommodation.
Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and of Human Settlements Paul Mashatile said: “The South African government does not allocate RDP houses to foreign nationals. Our government prioritises South Africans.
“Foreign nationals should follow the laws of the country and not take RDP houses that are not meant for them,” he warned.
He said he had been assigned by Gauteng Premier David Makhura to find land and install the basic essentials such as water, electricity and sewerage so that people could build houses for themselves and not wait for an RDP home.
“Title deeds would also be issued in order to restore the dignity of the people and enable them the chance of ownership.”
Another problem area that Mashatile addressed was the corruption that was taking place in the housing industry. “South Africans who are selling houses and renting them out for spaza shops will never get a house from gover nment again,” he added. Makhura said the government intended to inject R5.5 billion into the Riverside View project over a period of eight years, and black people should enjoy a good quality of life. Elderly people would be prioritised.
The MMC for housing, councillor Mzobanzi Ntuli, said people should desist from invading land because it hampered the progress made by the government.
“Land and RDP houses invasion is very disruptive to government programmes. It’s a setback and a delay to people who have been waiting for RDP houses since 1996.
“If people can work with the government, land invasion would be the thing of past,” added Ntuli.
Title deeds would also be issued in order to restore people’s dignity