No RDP houses for residents
Tsakane - "I cannot die in this shack. I also want to die in my own house like other senior citizens," says Lizzy Vala (86), a senior citizen from Railway Reserve informal settlement.
This is the complaint of most residents who were allegedly promised homes at the new RDP section in Extension 22, Tsakane.
The houses were officially opened a few weeks ago but residents of Railway Reserve are still living in their shacks without any word from their ward councillor, Silas Letsimo.
Residents claim that Letsimo held a public meeting a week before Extension 22 was launched, stating that only 50 residents will be moved to new RDP houses.
Residents further allege that he said he will take senior citizens and disabled residents first and the rest will follow.
Pauline Sithole (40), a resident who is partially blind and has been living at the informal settlement for more than a decade, says she was happy that she would soon move to a better home where she would have electricity and running water.
“This place is not ideal for a person like me. I use a paraffin stove and have to walk a distance to get water.
“It’s not safe and at night as I can’t see at all,” says Sithole.
Residents say what angers them the most is that the Letsimo has not come back to them to let them know what is going on.
“I just want my leaders to let me know if I have a house waiting for me or not so I may rest knowing that I will die here in my shack,” says a disappointed Vala.
Letsimo says 15 residents were taken from the informal settlement and given houses at Extension 22.
“We mixed people who have been living there the longest along with senior citizens.
“The allegations made against me are not true as I made it clear at the last public meeting with the residents that only 15 people will get houses,” he says.
He further says this is a smear campaign from residents who just want to stir up trouble.
