Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements continues its eradication of mud houses
The Department of Human Settlements has plans to eradicate 261 mud houses in Nkomazi, Bushbuckridge, eMkhondo, Thembisile Hani and Chief Albert Luthuli in the current financial year.
The Department of Human Settlements is continuing with its eradication of mud houses in eMkhondo, Bushbuckridge and Chief Albert Luthuli local municipalities.
According to the department’s spokesperson, Freddy Ngobe, the total eradication of mud houses is impossible, as many residents are showing reluctance to demolish them, even after receiving an RDP house from the government.
“With the eradication of mud houses, we seek to provide home dwellers living in unsafe and uninhabitable structures better and decent housing. The mud houses are used as additional floor space, or utilised as a kitchen or extra room. Secondly, due to the large number of mud houses in the province, the eradication is highly constrained by limited budgetary resources,” Ngobe said.
Amos Mkhwanazi, an 82-year-old from Ezinkomeni Village in Mkhondo, received newly built house in December after his mud house had been demolished.
Ngobe explained that there are more than 7 000 mud houses scattered across the province, mainly in Nkomazi, Bushbuckridge, eMkhondo, Thembisile Hani and Chief Albert Luthuli. The department has set out to eradicate 261 of them in the current 2024/25 financial year.
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Ngobe said by end of the third quarter, 210 mud houses had been replaced with proper housing; 180 housing units in eMkhondo, 17 in Chief Albert Luthuli and 13 in Bushbuckridge.
He said the eradication of mud houses remains central to the government’s mission to provide decent shelter and create habitable environments.
“The delivery target for the construction of low-cost houses [RDPs] for the 2024/25 financial year is set at 2 342 units. As of December 31, 2024, a total of 1 104 housing units had been completed, representing 47% of the annual target. This falls short of the projected delivery pace. Contractors are expected to accelerate performance in the final quarter of the financial year to meet the set objective,” he said.
