Lazarus Dithagiso

VEREENIGING. – Non-delivery of service dating back to the 90s was the subject of numerous petitions handed to Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Uhuru Moiloa on Friday.

This was at the housing summit held outside the Vereeniging City Hall.

Even before Moiloa could start his address,  community members and supporters in ANC regalia held placards aloft demanding answers to the housing backlogs around the area.

Community members from Tshepong, Westside Park, New Village, Ward 30 and 38 stood firm to demonstrate their dissatisfaction.

Moiloa made the mistake of trying to make light of standing community members; insults were hurled at him as they were told told the seriousness of the situation.

Chief amongst the complains was that Moiloa had done nothing since he replaced former MEC Paul Mashatile to resolve complaints, amongst those being that many contractors have not been paid and have discontinued work.

Complainants threatened to address their problems to the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa if delivery did not happen soon.

Moiloa pointed out during the event that dolomite in Rust-ter-Vaal made it impossible to build RDP houses on land allocated. He pointed out that land for government housing could not be allocated willy-nilly without the land itself being examined first.

“It should also be pointed out that it is common practise to build houses first and infrastructure later. This is wrong,” he said. Regardless of whether the truth made him unpopular, Moiloa said too many people were not paying their rates and taxes, and municipal levies, which hampered service delivery.

“If we do not pay for services, this country will run into chaos and we will kneel to America for the rest of our lives. The country will run bankrupt,” said Moiloa.