Residents of KaNyamazane still roofless
12 more contractors were added to the project
KANYAMAZANE – As the rainy season approaches, many houses are still left with damaged roofs or without roofs entirely after a storm hit the area in May.
Lowvelder previously reported that the Department of Human Settlements identified 2 130 houses that were damaged and, only after protests that ravaged the area had come to a halt could the three contractors they appointed carry on with their work.
Last week Freddy Ngobe, spokesman for the department, said that “the department has appointed 12 additional contractors to beef up capacity on-site in order to urgently complete the project by end of November 2018”.
This after premier Refilwe Mtshweni, when finally declaring it a disaster area, urged the contractors to have the damage repaired by two weeks ago.
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Ngobe added that damage to 390 houses had been fixed thus far, and that houses were prioritised according to the severity of the damage. “During assessment, the most vulnerable families were identified in consultation with the ward councillors and ward committees,” Ngobe said.
Lowvelder previously reported that the department had a budget of R19 million to fix all the houses and that they would apply for additional funds. Ngobe confirmed that they indeed have applied for an additional R119 million from the national department.
The newspaper also previously wrote about Dinah Lekhulele. Her damaged roof was taken off by the department and she slept roofless for a couple of nights. When the contractors came to build the new roof, they damaged the geyser, electricity and DStv satellite. They have still not repaired any of these.
On this point Ngobe said that “the affected contractors were instructed to rectify and complete all houses that were partially completed”.
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When visiting the area at the end of September, many community members were still complaining that the department has not even assessed the damage to their houses, let alone fixed the roofs. And with the rain coming, they are forced to look for rays of sunshine from the department.
