Monday, November 15, 2010

‘We want the houses you promised’, say Khayelitsha residents

Residents of Khayelitsha TR section say they have been waiting two years for houses promised by the provincial government and they’ve had enough of waiting. The residents of TR’s Bongani area say that in 2008 the councillor for their area at the time, Whitey Jacobs, said they were going to move into houses on land in Kuilsriver called ‘Nuwe Begin’. But they are still stuck in their shacks.They have been protesting against the delay since October and say they are not going to stop until they get the houses promised to them.

Community member Majoli Buli said: “It’s been 22 years living in this area but the government hasn’t done anything to help us and we are tied of empty promises. We are fighting for ourselves because the ward councilor refuses to help us as he claims he was not voted in by us.

Residents committee chairperson Luvuyo Hebe said he had “lots of meetings” with the city and they had promised to build their houses by March this year.

“But it hasn’t happened,” he said.

He said residents had told the committee to step down because the problem had not been solved. “That is why they protesting.”

Ward councillor Mpendulo Solizwe said he didn’t understand why Bongani residents were protesting, as they were been taken care of.

“The constructor is busy with infra-structure and they will get the houses next year March,” said Solizwe

Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela’s spokesperson Zalisile Mbali said the building of 900 houses for TR Section Bongani residents had been delayed due to “technical problems”, but now “everything will be sorted out”.

“We will start preparing the land by the end of this month in Nuwe Begin next to Kuilsriver and the infra-structure will be done in May next year,” he said.

“An arrangement to move 900 families has been made and those families have been identified.”

He said the protests were as a result of a misunderstanding.

“We said we will start building the houses in May next year at the last meeting we had in Mew Way hall, unfortunately the committee of TR didn’t attend the meeting.” said Mbali.

West Cape News

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