The Herald: New-style RDP houses, same old problems

http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n02_03042008.htm

The Herald 3/4/2008

New-style RDP houses, same old problems

Dieketseng Maleke HERALD REPORTER

A SERIES of new-style low-cost houses has been built in Nelson Mandela Bay townships. They are bigger than the old RDP houses, but the same problems often arise.

Thandeka Ngaphi, who lives in Greenfield, near Zwide, is not so happy with her new house, saying that she waited 18 months to have proper sewerage connected.

“I use the bucket system and I have complained to the council‘s office, but the reply was that the house had been given to me for nothing.”

Another Greenfield resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the water supply was working until the sewer pipes burst.

“We were told at the councillor‘s office not to use the toilets as the sewerage system was not strong enough to cater for the whole neighbourhood,” she said.

The new government houses are not only bigger, but the quality of material used is better as well. The roofs have tiles, or are sometimes of fibre cement, whereas the old houses had corrugated iron roofs.

The sinks in the old houses that had them were made of plastic, while steel is used in some of the new structures.

Nosithembele Makhwenkwana, of Joe Slovo, said she had moved into her new house in November and was pleased with it. “This house is built much better and the fact that it is much bigger than the shack I lived in makes me love it.”

Makhwenkwana said her shack had been washed away by rain. After that the councillor‘s office had decided to let her move into the house.

The window frames in the new houses are also larger.

The new houses have two bedrooms, a bathroom with a toilet and shower, a living room and a kitchen. They are 40m², compared with the 24m² of some of the older houses.

Some of the old houses have no partitions inside. The new ones have partitions and a stoep in front.

Makhwenkwana has already moved into her house, even though it is incomplete. She said the municipality had promised to put in a water meter. She was still using the electricity box that she had used in her shack.

Municipal spokesman Kupido Baron said: “The municipality decided it wanted to build houses that people would want to be proud of, instead of just having four walls. “These houses are built with subsidies of between R35000 and R38000.” He said the new metro houses had no problems.

Greenfield Ward 18 councillor Itumeleng Ranyele said: “We always fix problems with the houses. We were not aware about the sewerage problem in Phase2 here in Greenfield. We will investigate the matter.”

Babalwa Makhiwane, also from Greenfield, said her old-style house lacked partitions, and residents had to install them. “There is no running water in the house and when it is raining, the water gets in through the windows,” she said.

Baron said there were plans to revive the housing project in Greenfield specifically. Houses being built would be completed.