Umkholombe residents receive housing units after fire
He said everything has been planned, adding that they are now looking to sort out issues in terms of water infrastructure. “Once that is sorted, everything will be ready to go just like the Bhobhoyi Phase 2 housing project.
Christmas came early for 11 residents of the Umkholombe Informal Settlement after an announcement that they will receive temporary units after their shacks burnt down recently.
Ten out of the 11 residents were tenants and one a landlord. Ray Nkonyeni Municipality mayor, Sikhumbuzo Zero Mqadi revealed at an Imbizo in Ward 20 last week that MEC for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements, Jomo Sibiya said temporary housing units will be given to the 11 residents who lost everything in the fire.
Mqadi emphasised that Sibiya said the units are for each resident, not the owner of the land. “They don’t belong to the owner, they belong to each and every one of the people who were living in those shacks when they burnt down,” said Mqadi.
He added that government cannot give 11 housing units to one person. There were mixed emotions in the hall after the mayor made the announcement. Meanwhile, Mqadi said there has been shortcomings when it comes to the Umkholombe Slums Clearance Project.
He said everything has been planned, adding that they are now looking to sort out issues in terms of water infrastructure. “Once that is sorted, everything will be ready to go just like the Bhobhoyi Phase 2 housing project.
“In Merlewood, 228 houses were planned to be built and only 137 have been built. We have retaining wall issues but work is ongoing,” said Mqadi. He added that in Ward 4, in oShabeni – 500 houses out of 1000 were built. He added that presently they are building 300 more units.
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