This statement follows our oversight inspection of the failed housing projects in Lekwa and Govan Mbeki municipalities by DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements, Solly Malatsi MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, Mbulelo Bara MP, and Govan Mbeki and Lekwa Constituency Head, Angel Khanyile MP.
Please find soundbites in English and Sepedi by Mr Malatsi, IsiXhosa by Mr Bara and in IsiZulu by Ms Khanyile.
Today, the DA conducted an oversight inspection of failed housing projects in Ward 5 and 8 in Lekwa Municipality and the Holfontein area in Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, following reports that people are living in undignified conditions and that the provision of sanitation services has collapsed in the area.
During our interactions, the residents expressed feeling abandoned by the ANC government in the province which continues to deny them access to quality and dignified housing.
The blame must be laid squarely at the feet of the province’s former premier, DD Mabuza, because on his watch the ANC’s rampant corruption and failed service delivery left communities in ruin. It’s an indictment on Mabuza that the people of Lekwa and Holfontein are forced to live in unfit conditions, trapped in poverty as the corruption-riddled ANC clings onto power.
In Ward 8, residents complained about the continued manipulation of the housing beneficiary list, bearing testimony to the ANC’s indifference to the realities of the poor and their commitment to lining their own pockets.
We cannot allow this critical process to be compromised as it leads to the rightful housing beneficiaries being overlooked for housing allocations. Residents further shared frustrations as their long-awaited homes are being occupied by people who have since bought them from unscrupulous, corrupt officials.
In Ward 5, residents have been allocated stands for more than a decade and, to date, not received title deeds. Others do not have toilets or water.
In Ward 10, the construction of RDP houses is set to commence soon; however, there is no official beneficiaries list. Our people deserve nothing less than access to quality, safe and dignified housing.
In 2019, South Africans will an opportunity to demand a government capable of improving their living conditions. Under a DA government, people will not be forced to suffer the consequences of a corrupt government which denies them a house to call a home.
The people of Mpumalanga are desperate for a responsive government that puts them first and that will prioritise the delivery of proper housing, and a title deed to their home. Only a DA-led government can deliver that kind of change.