New wheelchair-friendly home for Harding family
The MEC said the house was built through Operation Sigalelekile which came to Umuziwabantu Municipality following a request made by residents in the area.
Just when he had lost hope of owning his own home, wheelchair-bound Mphendukelwa Basi of Harding received a government-built house from the KwaZulu-Natal MEC of Social Development, Nonhlanhla Khoza on Sunday.
Khoza handed over the title deed and keys to Basi’s new home, along with the chairperson of the Social Development Portfolio Committee Nozwakazi Swaartbooi-Ntombela, Ugu District Municipality mayor Phumlile Mthiyane, Ugu Speaker of council Sizwe Ngcobo, Speaker of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality Zodwa Mzindle, and Umuziwabantu Municipality mayor Sboniso Zungu.
The MEC said the house was built through Operation Sigalelekile which came to Umuziwabantu Municipality following a request made by residents in the area.
She added that the house was built by the Department of Human Settlements, adding that it is part of over 370 houses already constructed in the area as Operation Sigalelekile continues.
Basi said he had lost hope that one day he would own a home.
He said he had been renting for some time in the area.
“But today, I own a house because I have been patient and praying to God to have mercy on me and my family,” he said, adding that his dignity has been restored.
The new homeowner said he was looking forward to spending Christmas in his home, adding that the house is very wheelchair-friendly.
“I want to encourage our people not to give up after applying for a house. My perseverance yielded success and now I own a home,” he said.
Meanwhile, MEC Khoza said: “To bring integrated services closer to vulnerable communities is what we are committed to. With Operation Sigalelekile, we have all departments and different agencies to help share their service with communities. We promptly responded to the needs of the people through a virtuous development. As government, we are making history to ensure that all residents of Sutton have title deeds. We gave Basi his title deed and the Department of Human Settlements and the local municipality will continue with the programme.”
Khoza added that the government had committed itself to serving the downtrodden.
She said after profiling community members in the area, the department provided over 500 families with social relief of distress to ensure no one went to sleep on an empty stomach.
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