Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of the Mailula family members as their unfinished RDP house finally took shape.
This family has been waiting for over four years for their house to be completed, all in vain until this newspaper intervened and alerted authorities at both the City of Ekurhuleni and the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements which both swiftly attended to the matter and finished the house.
This newspaper visited the Mailula family on Monday and this time around was met with happy faces and tears of joy as their house was being attended to.
“It’s finally happening. We had lost hope that our house would be finished and now that is has been, it feels like a dream. Words can never begin to express our joy and gratitude to you (The Tembisan) for alerting those in higher offices of our plight. Equally, we would like to thank the City of Ekurhuleni and the Department of Human Settlement for attending to our plight. It is a new dawn indeed,” said Elizabeth Mailula.
She said even though she feels a bit sad that her husband died before the house could be finished, she takes solace in the fact that the entire family will now have a decent roof over their heads.
“He is actually the one who applied for the RDP house and he was still alive when it was started. We both knocked on every door without help and he finally gave up.
“I feel sad that he died without seeing it being completed,” said Elizabeth.
This newspaper first wrote about this situation about a month ago, after the family had approached it for assistance.
The family claimed the construction of their RDP house began in 2015 and was never completed. When this newspaper visited the family in September, the house wasn’t roofed and there were no doors or windows.
The family had to share a one-roomed shack, using it as their kitchen during the day and a bedroom at night.
After engaging with the city and the department, the house finally received attention and has now been completed.
“I am so thrilled. The constructors have actually done a marvellous job. I think the house is now even more beautiful than the other RDP houses,” said Mailula.
