Some Bhisho families have two RDP houses, while others have none

In Tyutyu Location in Bhisho, some residents have two RDP houses and some have none.

Residents of Phase 3 are still waiting for houses, electricity, sanitation and roads. They have built their own pit latrines.

They say houses were supposed to have been built three years ago. No one has explained the delay, they say.

But in nearby Phase 2, some families have two RDP houses.

An official from Buffalo City Municipality who did not want to give his name said this was because some of the houses in Phase 2 were to be demolished. He said the first set of houses had been badly built and had been condemned by the National Home Builders Registration Council. About 50 would be demolished once new houses had been built, he said.

Explaining why houses had not been built yet in Phase 3, he said the contract had been terminated because the contractor had cash flow problems. “Now we are in the process of appointing a contractor again for building to resume.”

Preparations would be completed in the current financial year, he said.

“Meanwhile the process of beneficiary registration will continue. The process is long and there are no shortcuts.’’

But Phase 3 resident Mxolisi Dayimani, 58, says the fact that some have two houses while he is still waiting for his first house “doesn’t sit well with me”.

Dayimani shares a shack with a poorly fitted roof and a dirt floor with his brother and two nephews.

“I’ve been waiting for a house for over 15 years,” he says. “I have been here since the early 1980s, but nothing has been done yet. “

He is unemployed and works in his neighbour’s garden in exchange for something to eat.

He has been admitted to hospital for TB. “The government doesn’t care about me,” says Dayimani.

Nosiseko Gladile, 43, also a resident in Phase 3, says residents have done all they can to get help, including writing letters to the councillor.

“We do not have flushing toilets. It’s like we are living in another town. We do not have houses or proper roads,” said Gladile.

Ward 43 Councillor Melford Mlenze acknowledged that roads were in poor condition but could not say when new roads would be built.

Five attempts to get official comment from Buffalo City Municipality were unsuccessful. Spokesperson Sibusiso Cindi said he could not get hold of the the director in charge of the Tyutyu Location RDP houses.

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