A decision by communities to protest on Tuesday against their structurally defective houses built by the Cape Town Community Housing Company (CTCHC) is "ludicrous" and "bordering on the incomprehensible", the company says.
CTCHC communications manager Michael Ralo said on Monday he was baffled by the decision to protest, given that the CTCHC had appointed contractors last week to fix the defects, for which provincial government has pledged to fork out R35-million.
The communities living in more than 2 000 houses in Newfields Village, Hanover Park, Luyoloville, Philippi, Heideveld, Woodridge, Eastridge and Manenberg were to march to the civic centre on Tuesday to request the city to write off arrears for the non-payment of rent and to force the CTCHC to start fixing their houses immediately.
The City of Cape Town is 50 percent shareholder in the CTCHC.
Gary Hartzenberg, the chairperson of the Newfields Community Representative Committee, said the tenants were simply too poor to pay rent far in excess of what they had expected when the houses were built in 2000.
But Ralo said the company could not condone the non-payment of rent, saying communities owed the CTCHC at least R60 million in arrears.
In March, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) presented the findings of a forensic engineering audit report of more than about 2400 houses built by the CTCHC on the Cape Flats since 2000 which revealed that at least 2 percent had major defects.
Minor defects were a result of poor workmanship.
The houses in Railway and Pylon were found to be of the poorest quality while those in Woodbridge, Newfields and Philippi were found to be "fairly acceptable".
Vusi Tshose, spokesperson for Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, said the provincial government was committed to solving the tenants' problems. Dyantyi was keeping communities abreast of developments.
He is due to meet the Eastridge community on Sunday and the Newfields community in September.
The housing department had been assured by the CTCHC that contractors would begin fixing the defects before the end of August, Tshose said.
Hartzenberg accused the CTCHC of threatening to evict tenants who did not pay their rent, saying the R700 to R900 monthly rental was unaffordable to single mothers, pensioners and those who had no work.
He said some who were paying off houses that cost R44 000, now owed in excess of R50 000.
Ralo said tenants could not expect free housing.
The R150 to R200 that tenants paid as a savings measure before they moved into their houses was a test to determine whether they were able to pay towards their rent and was not an agreement as to how much their rent would be set at. - Cape Argus
CTCHC communications manager Michael Ralo said on Monday he was baffled by the decision to protest, given that the CTCHC had appointed contractors last week to fix the defects, for which provincial government has pledged to fork out R35-million.
The communities living in more than 2 000 houses in Newfields Village, Hanover Park, Luyoloville, Philippi, Heideveld, Woodridge, Eastridge and Manenberg were to march to the civic centre on Tuesday to request the city to write off arrears for the non-payment of rent and to force the CTCHC to start fixing their houses immediately.
The City of Cape Town is 50 percent shareholder in the CTCHC.
Gary Hartzenberg, the chairperson of the Newfields Community Representative Committee, said the tenants were simply too poor to pay rent far in excess of what they had expected when the houses were built in 2000.
But Ralo said the company could not condone the non-payment of rent, saying communities owed the CTCHC at least R60 million in arrears.
In March, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) presented the findings of a forensic engineering audit report of more than about 2400 houses built by the CTCHC on the Cape Flats since 2000 which revealed that at least 2 percent had major defects.
Minor defects were a result of poor workmanship.
The houses in Railway and Pylon were found to be of the poorest quality while those in Woodbridge, Newfields and Philippi were found to be "fairly acceptable".
Vusi Tshose, spokesperson for Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, said the provincial government was committed to solving the tenants' problems. Dyantyi was keeping communities abreast of developments.
He is due to meet the Eastridge community on Sunday and the Newfields community in September.
The housing department had been assured by the CTCHC that contractors would begin fixing the defects before the end of August, Tshose said.
Hartzenberg accused the CTCHC of threatening to evict tenants who did not pay their rent, saying the R700 to R900 monthly rental was unaffordable to single mothers, pensioners and those who had no work.
He said some who were paying off houses that cost R44 000, now owed in excess of R50 000.
Ralo said tenants could not expect free housing.
The R150 to R200 that tenants paid as a savings measure before they moved into their houses was a test to determine whether they were able to pay towards their rent and was not an agreement as to how much their rent would be set at. - Cape Argus
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