KAMHLUSHWA – Corridor Gazette recently reported that the Department of Human Settlements had approved the construction of a house for the Khumalo family. What they did receive, were two corrugated iron shacks, with no window frames or panes, which were left on their site, incomplete. According to the family who had nothing more than a small tent, this was better than nothing and they remained hopeful that they would one day own a decent house.
According to Ms Nora Khumalo, the day they brought the iron shacks, they were informed that this would be their temporary accommodation until their house was built, which would take no longer than two months.
The men who were responsible for erecting the shacks didn’t finish on that day and said they would return the following day.
“I spent the whole week waiting from them to return and complete the shacks but they never did. We asked our local councillor, and explained that we were afraid to sleep in the shacks because it seemed as if the slightest wind would blow them down. He said he called them and they said they would come back and complete the construction,” Khumalo said.
“Recently wind blew the tent down and we decided to use the shacks. We put sand around them to keep them grounded. But that doesn’t help when it rains like last weekend,” she added.
Khumalo is awaiting her children’s birth certificates, so that they can receive assistance from the South African Social Security Agency. She says she is saddened at the sight of children not going to school, and hopes to ensure that all her family receive an education so that they can have a better future.
