Long wait for a home of their own is finally over

Pensioner William Karadiya’s dream of owning a house has finally become a reality.

Karadiya is one of 11 people who have taken ownership of modest houses provided by the provincial government.

More than 1000 units will eventually be handed over to people living in six informal settlements in Nyanga and surrounding areas.

Karadiya had been living in a one-room shack in Boys Town but his tireless efforts to ensure his name was on the list finally resulted in him receiving a house, after waiting for 30 years.

It was a sunny afternoon in Nyanga’s Boys Town on Thursday when Premier Helen Zille, accompanied by human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, handed over houses to Karadiya and 10 others.

The humble man was lost for words.

“God has answered my prayers,” Karadiya said, fighting back tears of joy.

The conditions in which Paradiya had previously lived were appalling.

The unemployed father of two said life was unpleasant when he lived in the shack as there was no electricity and he had to walk long distances to get water from the nearest communal tap.

He said when he got the call from a human settlements department official saying he would be allocated a house, “I felt very good and told my neighbours that my dream had become a reality”.

“Life before was horrible but I am happy now. I cannot describe the happiness inside me,” he said.

Another beneficiary, Elizabeth Twala, 78, said she was delighted.

She had been living in a two-room shack with one of her children and two of her grandchildren.

“The wait has been long but finally I have a house of my own,” she said.

Madikizela told the crowd of about 200 people who had come to witness the handover of the houses: “It makes us very happy that we are changing people’s lives and giving them hope.”

Madikizela said giving the 11 houses to the pensioners “was evidence that we prioritise older people when giving houses to communities”.

Zille, who spoke Xhosa throughout her speech, encouraged the community members to take care and guard the elderly against people who might take advantage of them, as some were living alone.

Housing Development Agency project manager Brendan Abrahams acknowledged the project had been coupled with challenges.

“It has been difficult and challenging working on this project but we are happy that at the end of the day we saw eye to eye and put our differences aside.”

In July last year the construction of the houses had to be delayed as people started protesting, saying that building jobs were not shared equally among Boys Town residents.

The provincial human settlements department had to apply for a restraining order against some of those residents, prohibiting them preventing the project. – WCN