Empty promises leave residents concerned
One of the duos, a 56-year-old said they went to the municipality to inquire after tirelessly waiting but they were denied access
Being concerned about unfulfilled promises of new homes in Siyanqoba, saw two disgruntled residents from eMalahleni, Vosman unable to obey to the current national lockdown regulations as “space in our houses makes it a bit difficult to practise social distancing.”
The duo, who wished to remain anonymous, said they have been waiting to be relocated to their new places of residence since last year in December.
“We have been told that we will move into the RDP houses by Christmas. Then there was an excuse, they said they had a problem and requested that we should wait until January of which they said nothing till date.”
One of the duos, a 56-year-old said they went to the municipality to inquire after tirelessly waiting but they were denied access.
“Upon our arrival, we were told that those who were called to come to the municipality to fetch their keys were only allowed to be at the buildings, they denied us access.”
“We do need the houses as a matter of urgency; we are not in a good space to even practice social distancing. I live with my grandchildren and we are seven in the house.”
She added that she had to divide her two-roomed houses’ dining into a bedroom to at least accommodate the whole family to practice social distancing.
“I am so desperate for the house because I live in a one-roomed house with my children and nephews since their mother died. I had to continue taking care of them; all we need to know is where it went wrong because we have been waiting for too long, with back and forth trips to the municipality,” the other continued.
She further added that they went to the municipality after they were called to sign for their houses about two weeks ago.
“We found people from other areas in a queue to fetch their keys; we were there to check how far they are with the process but was denied access and we ended up calling our ward councillor,” she added.
While responding to the claims made by the residents, Ward 8 councillor of Vosman, ‘Maseven’ Nhlapo said the residents lack patience and he has been calling community meetings to keep them updated.
“The only house that I am aware that they are in a process of applying is only 100, it was only 100 that was allocated by the department, unfortunately even now the department has called them to sign in. I am also still waiting for them to get back to us.”
“The municipality does not issue out but only deals with the facilitation part to register those who need houses, it is the responsibility of the department to allocate houses. We even had a meeting with the executive mayor and the community about the 100 houses, on my database I have registered 600 to 700 people but they only managed to allocate 100 from the list I have submitted,” he added.
