Irene Grootboom, the heroine who led the struggle for the homeless and landless of South Africa in the Grootboom Constitutional Court judgment of 2000, still does not have a proper roof over her head.
Eight years ago Grootboom brought an application to court on behalf of 510 children and 290 adults living in the Wallacedene informal settlement demanding housing and children's rights.
She won the case as the landmark judgment declared the state was obliged to devise and implement "a comprehensive and co-ordinated programme to realise the right of access to adequate housing".
But a visit by the Cape Argus on Monday found her "sick and tired" of promises.
Grootboom remains proud of the judgment and of herself for persevering when "everybody was scared to go forward - I decided to speak out because we were poor and wanted a place to live in," she said.
Wallacedene residents, without hot water or sewerage and having been on the housing waiting list for a long time, occupied private land meant for low-cost housing.
They were evicted, but the land they had previously lived on had been occupied. They settled on a sportsfield and in a community hall. They later occupied houses and shacks in other settlements.
"I was supposed to get a house a while back but I'm still in a shack which I share with my sister-in-law and her three children. They keep promising us ... I'm sick and tired of the whole thing," said Grootboom, 39.
"When it rains water seeps through every crevice and the thing is submerged in water. I try to repair it but I can't do much," she said.
Asked how she felt when the housing department handed over nearly 300 housing units at the weekend, under the People's Housing Process programme in her community, she said: "I can't feel good."
Grootboom said she had applied for a house under a different project, and hoped she would soon get one.
Ward councillor Ndumiso Magwetshu said a street in the community had been named after Grootboom as she was a symbol of the struggle for houses. "She has not been forgotten by the government, and my wish is to start by building a house for her in the next programme," said Magwetshu, adding that constitutionally everyone had a right to housing.
"I applaud her, the community loves her and we need to see her in a proper house," he said.
On Sunday Vusi Tshose, spokesperson for Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, said Grootboom should benefit "in the next round".
Magwetshu said that, while the community was receiving better houses, the problem of backyard shacks still remained.
The government, he said, needed to develop a policy to the effect that, once a person was given a house, they should demolish their shack permanently.
"We want them in houses, not shacks," he said. - Cape Argus
Eight years ago Grootboom brought an application to court on behalf of 510 children and 290 adults living in the Wallacedene informal settlement demanding housing and children's rights.
She won the case as the landmark judgment declared the state was obliged to devise and implement "a comprehensive and co-ordinated programme to realise the right of access to adequate housing".
But a visit by the Cape Argus on Monday found her "sick and tired" of promises.
Grootboom remains proud of the judgment and of herself for persevering when "everybody was scared to go forward - I decided to speak out because we were poor and wanted a place to live in," she said.
Wallacedene residents, without hot water or sewerage and having been on the housing waiting list for a long time, occupied private land meant for low-cost housing.
They were evicted, but the land they had previously lived on had been occupied. They settled on a sportsfield and in a community hall. They later occupied houses and shacks in other settlements.
"I was supposed to get a house a while back but I'm still in a shack which I share with my sister-in-law and her three children. They keep promising us ... I'm sick and tired of the whole thing," said Grootboom, 39.
"When it rains water seeps through every crevice and the thing is submerged in water. I try to repair it but I can't do much," she said.
Asked how she felt when the housing department handed over nearly 300 housing units at the weekend, under the People's Housing Process programme in her community, she said: "I can't feel good."
Grootboom said she had applied for a house under a different project, and hoped she would soon get one.
Ward councillor Ndumiso Magwetshu said a street in the community had been named after Grootboom as she was a symbol of the struggle for houses. "She has not been forgotten by the government, and my wish is to start by building a house for her in the next programme," said Magwetshu, adding that constitutionally everyone had a right to housing.
"I applaud her, the community loves her and we need to see her in a proper house," he said.
On Sunday Vusi Tshose, spokesperson for Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, said Grootboom should benefit "in the next round".
Magwetshu said that, while the community was receiving better houses, the problem of backyard shacks still remained.
The government, he said, needed to develop a policy to the effect that, once a person was given a house, they should demolish their shack permanently.
"We want them in houses, not shacks," he said. - Cape Argus
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