KAMHLUSHWA – Following a recent visit by officials from the South African Social Security Agency, the Khumalo family who have been waiting for a government RDP house for almost a year now, are hopeful that they will have a house soon.
Corridor Gazette visited the family on Sunday afternoon and established that though the family may still be living in corrugated iron shacks, they pleased with the latest developments.
Despite the developments not being the parents are happy that their children are being registered for South African identification documents, which will afford greater opportunities such as education.
“The only thing that will help us change the situation around for our family, will be making sure that our children go to school and learn. Without that whatever help we can get will only be temporary if our children don’t go to school and take school serious,” said Mr Maluzane Khumalo.
Meanwhile COPE, last Wednesday said in a press release that living in a corrugated shelter is still not decent housing for the family.
According to this party, being moved from a tent shelter into corrugated shelter does not qualify as a proper house but a spit on the face of the needy, who are dependent of government’s service.
It was after an intervention by the party, and the Nkomazi Local Municipality distancing itself from the matter that the Department of Human Settlements told Corridor Gazette that this family would be one of the families which would be receive RDP houses.
To date the Khumalo family are clueless as to developments relating to the building of the house, the most they know is seeing people taking measurements for digging a foundation in August.
“To this end the family has received no proper house except for a corrugated shelter which was put up by the department and was left incomplete as there was no proper flooring and there were no window glasses provided the family had to card boxes. The tent in which they lived in was moved after being promised yet again that the house would be built soon,” provincial chairperson of COPE, Ms Zale Madonsela.
According to Madonsela, the party has not received any response to questions sent by them to the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in August about the matter.
Madonsela concluded,“It’s been a year since this family has been waiting for a proper house and soon the floods will begin again, does this mean the departments concerned are not worried about the livelihood of the community and how much more waiting should this family do?
