Unfinished RDP houses in Winnie Mandela a cause for concern
Some of these houses have been left without roofing, plastering, windows, doors and proper floors
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province has called on MEC Lebogang Maile to complete the unfinished RDP houses in Winnie Mandela in Tembisa as a matter of urgency.
These RDP houses were started in 2016 and have not yet been completed.
During an oversight inspection conducted by the DA’s Gauteng shadow MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), MPL Kate Lorimer, last week Thursday, it emerged that the beneficiaries of these houses are now forced to erect shacks in the same yards, while waiting for their houses to be completed.
“We discovered that some of these houses have been left without roofing, plastering, windows, doors and proper floors.
“According to the beneficiaries, the contractors left these houses incomplete and have continuously promised to come back to complete them. This has never happened. The beneficiaries have since made enquiries with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and were told that the houses will be completed in July, but to date no contractor has come on site,” said Lorimer.
“I have asked questions in the legislature in order to establish what happened to the original contractors, how much they were paid, how much money has been lost, when the houses will be completed and at what cost. This is one of many housing projects that have been left incomplete in this province while the housing unit backlog is skyrocketing,” continued Lorimer.
The beneficiaries claimed that they are unemployed and cannot afford to complete these houses by themselves.
“We call upon MEC Maile to be practical in his approach to building houses for our poor people. There should be proper plans, timelines and accurate lists of the beneficiaries. We will continue to put pressure on MEC Maile to ensure that these houses are completed timeously,” she concluded.
Attempts to source comment from the Department of Human Settlements were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
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