Destitute family given a new beginning
The family had previously been living in a makeshift structure.
The Department of Human Settlements, Newcastle Municipality and National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) handed the Kubheka family their new house on November 28 in Ward 6, oSizweni.
Tears of joy and vociferous laughter were the order of the day for Ntombifuthi Yvonne Kubheka, who was recently widowed, and her five children, namely Mfanafuthi, Vusi, Bongumusa, Philisiwe and her disabled seven-year old son, Kwanele. The family had previously been living in a makeshift structure.
The house was built as part of the Media Build Campaign in which government and the private sector contribute resources to build houses for the destitute around the country. The sophisticated new house is deemed to be the first its kind. The 65 square-metre house surpasses the normal 40 square-metre houses built by the Media Build programme.
Council Speaker, Councillor Mandla Zikhali, thanked the stakeholders who had made this venture possible. “As council, we would like to thank all the stakeholders in this project. We also like to thank all the local businesses that heeded the call and came to the aid of this family,” he said.
He emphasised that the house was not built by the Newcastle Municipality and was not the standard RDP house to be built in the area. “This house was not constructed from the municipality’s budget nor is it the sample of RDP houses for this area,” he said.
