DA urges MEC Maile to finish incomplete RDP houses in Winne Mandela, Tembisa

15 July 2019

Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and COGTA MEC, Lebogang Maile has to complete the unfinished RDP houses in Winne Mandela in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni as a matter of urgency.

These RDP houses were started in 2016 and have not yet been completed.

During an oversight inspection, we discovered that some of these houses have been left without roofing, plastering, windows, doors and proper floors.

The beneficiaries of these houses are now forced to erect shacks in the same yard while waiting for their houses to be completed.

According to the beneficiaries, the contractors left these houses incomplete and have continuously promised to come back to complete them. This has never happened.

The beneficiaries have since made enquiries with the Gauteng Department of Housing and were told that the houses will be completed in July, but to date no contractor has come on site.

They also claim that they are unemployed and cannot afford to complete these houses by themselves.

It is completely unacceptable for the contractors to leave sites without finishing a project.

I have asked questions in the Legislature in order to establish what happened to the original contractors, how much were they paid, how much money has been lost and when the houses will be completeda nd at what cost.

This is one of many housing projects that have been left incomplete in this province while the housing unit backlog is skyrocketing.

The failure to complete housing projects is a total waste of public funds that are meant to provide houses for our poor people.

We call upon MEC Maile to be practical in his approach to building houses for our poor people. There should be proper plans, timelines and accurate lists of the beneficiaries.

We will continue to put pressure on MEC Maile to ensure that these houses are completed timeously.

Issued by Kate Lorimer, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements and COGTA, 15 July 2019