Nellmapius shack dwellers get homes

15/10/2014 MEC Jacob Mamabolo hands over a new house to Barbara Kganele in Nellmapius. Picture: Phill Magakoe

15/10/2014 MEC Jacob Mamabolo hands over a new house to Barbara Kganele in Nellmapius. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Published Dec 16, 2014

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Pretoria - Emotions were running high outside house number 8541 Koporo Street in Nellmapius as Human Settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo handed over houses to residents who had endured inhabitable conditions for more than a decade.

Councillor Nkele Malapane broke down in tears as she remembered the residents’ misery in their old homes in Mamelodi East.

Underground water made their shacks and RDP houses impossible to live in.

Malapane’s plea to Mamabolo during a councillors’ conference in September led to the construction of the houses.

Five houses were handed over on Monday, with two others expected to be ready for occupation within the next few days and the last three by the end of January.

Mamabolo met Malapane during one-on-one consultations at the end of the two-day conference.

The Mamelodi East councillor poured her heart out to Mamabolo about houses and shacks built on stands with underground water, rendering them virtually inhabitable.

“In September, I visited the area. What I saw broke my heart. It was so bad we could not walk inside the houses in which people were supposed to be living,” Mamabolo said.

“I was deeply touched; I could not believe that people could live in those conditions for so many years. It was painful to watch.

“More heartbreaking was when the residents told me they did not believe I would return to assist them. They indicated no government official who previously visited them had returned.

“But I promised them I would find solutions and come back, and three months later, here I am handing over the houses.”

Mamabolo said the situation raised question on compliance and how the stands could have been allocated for housing despite there being underground water.

“However, today is your last day of suffering. Here you will live without having to worry about water inside your house,” the MEC added.

“Neighbours, please integrate them into your community. The have suffered a great deal. This day marks the closure of a very painful chapter for them.”

The handing over of the houses was in celebration of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children.

The roof-tiled houses were sponsored by cement company PPC and Urban Dynamics, a construction company, to the tune of R1.2 million. Makole Holdings donated electrical works. They cost R100 000 each to build, with the 10th house costing R300 000. The city donated the land.

Barbara Kganele was the first recipient and proudly walked around the two-bedroom house with separate bathroom with provincial government and city officials.

Mamabolo praised the late director in his office Obed Maila, the SACP Greater Tshwane leader and former Kungwini and Metshweding mayor, who he said was instrumental in facilitating the building of the homes. Maila was buried two weeks ago. “If he was still alive he would have been with us to witness and to celebrate this great moment.”

Diana Sithole, one of the beneficiaries, said she never thought the day would come. “Many people made unfulfilled promises. They’d take pictures and never come back again.

“I thought the MEC is one of them. I was so surprised. I never thought he’d came back with good news of relocation. I’m very grateful.”

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Pretoria News

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