Minister hands over only 12 houses
2008-10-16
May Saal
DESPITE the fact that more then 32 000 families in the Drakenstein area are in dire need of housing, the Western Cape Minister of Housing, Whitey Jacobs, only handed over 12 houses in the Drakenstein last week. The slow rate of construction is blamed on the limited funding made available by government annually, while 1736 local beneficiaries are still waiting anxiously for their houses. One of the lucky twelve, Lucy Soga expressed her gratitude towards the municipality for ensuring that she received the house, for which her father had waited in vain. “My father, Nobhungania Halimani, was the actual beneficiary for this house, but he passed away recently and now I am the beneficiary. “I am very grateful that I can move into my own house now with my husband Luhle and my three kids,” said an excited Soga. Another beneficiary, Nomawethu Nxala, has waited for more then 20 years to get a house. “It was a long wait, but now I can move into my own house with my children. I have ten children, but only two of them are still staying with me,” said Nxala. Minister Jacobs urged the beneficiaries to look after their houses. “This is your property now. Please take ownership of it and look after it.
“The Municipality will give you a form which you must complete in the next three months and if there is anything wrong with the house you should mark it on the form and say exactly what problems there are. It is the Municipality’s duty to fix it. “If you sign the form without pointing out the faults, then it would be too late. Please don’t sign the form if you are not happy with the house,” said Jacobs. He also emphasised that, although these beneficiaries are from the poorer part of the community, it doesn’t mean they must get inferior houses. “That’s why it is so important that beneficiaries work together with the Municipality in keeping the houses in good repair,” said Jacobs. Although about 64% of the local population of Drakenstein fall within the lower income group which qualifies for government housing subsidies, the government contribution to this sector is not sufficient to address the total demand. Housing construction in Mbekweni (Project 2) is being undertaken by constractors Mellon Housing Initiative and Palm Builders. Mellon has completed 86 houses since August last year of the 636 houses they are contracted to build. Currently 160 are still under construction and the completion date for the remaining 390 is 11 December next year. Palm Builders, contracted to build 106 houses, has completed only 11 of the houses since December last year, with ten houses under construction. The completion date is February 2009. Houses built by Mellon Housing in Project 59 (Fairyland) were also handed over by Minister Jacobs. Of the 975 houses contracted for Mellon has completed 255 since 13 December 2006. Another 60 are under construction. The completion date for the project is 30 July 2009. According to Drakenstein Municipality, due to the adverse weather conditions, the completion date had to be revised as it had caused delays in the construction process.
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