DA wants answers on Merlewood housing
The MEC added they would continue with their work, confronting challenges and solving them for the benefit of the people of Merlewood.
The DA has sounded alarm bells over the Merlewood Housing Project, claiming that 20 years after construction began, only 137 of the proposed 235 houses had been built for RDP beneficiaries.
This comes after the party’s recent oversight visit to the site.
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And, according to the DA’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesman on human settlements MPL George Mari, just 66 of the 137 homes completed to date have been connected to electricity.
“This information was supplied by KZN Human Settlements MEC, Ravi Pillay, following a recent parliamentary question by the DA. The shocking revelation comes as the area faces a desperate shortage of housing,” said Mr Mari.
He added that construction on the project had begun in 1994, with 235 houses due to have been completed by 1998.
“To date there has been one problem after another, allegedly as a result of deceased and or missing beneficiaries that need to be substituted with correct and deserving beneficiaries; disputes over beneficiary lists; sites being unsuitable for building and general construction delays.”
However Mr Pillay responded by saying this was ‘a typical case of the DA waking up from time to time to issue a media statement’.
“The Merlewood project is progressing. We are satisfied that Ray Nkonyeni Municipality has the capacity and commitment to overcome all challenges. The department has committed to assist further with bulk water funding because of difficulties faced by the district currently.”
He went on to say the housing delivery programme in the country has been an exceptional success.
Meanwhile, some residents have also raised concerns over lack of progress on the project.
“We are tired of complaining about the same issues. We have concluded that nobody cares about us or our living conditions,” said one.
However, an elderly resident who said she had waited for years to move into her home was grateful to have finally received the keys to her house.
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“It was a long wait, but I’m staying in my house now and I am happy with it.”
“Yes, backlogs remain but no other country has a programme of free houses on the scale that we have achieved, with KZN being the best performing province in the country for four consecutive years. We are proud of that record,” Mr Pillay said.
The MEC added they would continue with their work, confronting challenges and solving them for the benefit of the people of Merlewood.
The DA said it planned to raise the issue of the Merlewood housing development at the next meeting of the province’s human settlements portfolio committee, where it expected to get answers to certain questions, including why it has taken 20 years for this project to be completed, how much money was allocated and when it will finally be completed.
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