HIGHVELD – Tenants of Tsalanang in eMbalenhle and the eMzinoni Community Residential Units (CRU), previously known as hostels, disagree with the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlement’s progress report on their apartments.
The department visited Govan Mbeki Municipality and presented a progress report on projects done within the municipality, including the progress made with the community residential units.
Residents said the report only pointed out the challenges brought about by the community but fails to mention how the work has not been monitored.
Residents said the Department was supposed to report on the reasons for the strike actions and the blockages of Tsalanang project by the community.
“As tenants, we decided to stop the contractor from doing renovations to the old building at Tsalanang CRUs, because we wanted the contractor to fix its poor work in the new buildings, and to be compliant with all building regulations, standards and certifications from the authorised government institutions.
“We also want to know what is the relationship between Govan Mbeki Housing Company and the municipality, because the company keeps on collecting money from us on behalf of the municipality while we understand that the municipality has terminated their relationship.
“We also want to know whether it is still contracted to our municipality,” said Mr Mziwakhe Ntshalintshali, a tenant.
At Mzinoni, the tenants also accused the department, the municipality and Govan Mbeki Housing Company of not giving a correct report on their CRUs.
They alleged that the number of completed CRUs reflected in the report is false because a majority of tenants are still living in the old hostels that are not maintained and filthy.
This has allegedly resulted in tenants contracting diseases and some dying.
“As the community of Freedom Square, we are dissatisfied about the Department of Human Settlement’s progress report, especially a paragraph that states that at eMzinoni they were able to demolish the old hostel and built 182 new CRUs.
“They didn’t demolish the whole of it, but left one line of flats and overcrowded it with people,” said Ms Sigbongile Mathebula, a committee member of eMzinoni Hostels.
“There have not been 182 new CRUs built. We know of only 14 units that have been built for the approved beneficiaries and for those who qualify to buy stands, though others are still living at the hostel. They do not even know when they are going to get their houses,” said Ms Mathebula.
GMHC chief executive officer, Ms Busi Mazibuko said it is not true that their company was terminated from monitoring hostels because GMHC did not monitor hostels on behalf of GMM in the first place.
A social housing institution will manage a Community Residential Units project on behalf of the municipality if a municipality so resolves, once a grey hostel has been redeveloped to yield family units.
That is what the CRU Policy of the National Housing Code states.
“If GMHC collects money for services then GMHC pays the money to GMM. GMHC is responsible for the management of CRU’s, not hostels.
“GMM will have the database of people living in the old hostel and GMHC will have the database of people living in the redeveloped hostel, the CRU,” said Ms Mazibuko.
Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, Govan Mbeki Municipality’s executive mayor, told Ridge Times that they don’t have a contract with Govan Mbeki Housing Company at all, but the council decided to nominate committee members tasked to look at the GMHC and they will get the report in the coming council meeting scheduled for 28 May.
This came after the Department of Human Settlement presented a progress report on all projects they implemented in the Govan Mbeki Municipality and challenges that are affecting various projects.
When it was presented to councillors in the presence of the MEC, Mr Speedy Mashilo, the following challenges were revealed, delays in the renovation of the old Tsalanang Hostel units in eMbalenhle that are to be turned into community residential units (CRUs).
The department in the report claims that current residents refused to vacate the hostel. Strike actions by the residents led to the blockages of the project, and delays in relocating residents from the old hostel to the newly built units are preventing the Govan Mbeki Housing
Association to proceed with the municipality’s eviction order. A spokesman at the department said that at eMzinoni, they were able to demolish the old hostel and construct 182 new CRUs.
The project was implemented in phases as a multi-year project.
Phase one with 78 residential units was completed during the 2014/2015 financial year. The second phase of the project was initiated during the 2019/2020 financial year, however, there were court issues that were only finalised in the 2020/2021 financial year.
