Despite numerous promises from the government, no new houses have been constructed in Khutsong Extension 3 so far. People staying in Khutsong Ext. 3 have been complaining for years that there are still no housing developments in this area. The Herald, in turn, has been reporting on their aspirations – and frustrations. Their hopes were raised briefly in November last year when officials and councillors allegedly told them that the first housing project would commence on 10 November. While the Merafong City Local Municipality admitted that a contractor, uVuko Civils, had been appointed by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlement and introduced to the community on 9 November, they say no commitment was made that building would actually proceed. At the time, the municipality announced that the construction of the show houses would commence before the
end of November 2014 and be completed before the compulsory site closure on 12 December 2014. The construction of the outstanding units was set to commence in January this year, depending on the approval by province. Despite these promises, there was no evidence of any construction this week. To make matters worse, the show houses that were built by the contractor were demolished by the middle of June. Although most of the building material for the new houses in the project was delivered to a fenced site near Hlanganani Primary School at the end of January, it was
later removed. “There are 603 government subsidised houses that must still be built in Extension 3. Most of the beneficiaries are old people. Some of them used their last money to get people to move their shacks out of the way for their new houses to be built in their yards,” a concerned community member, Mr Chuku Kerileng, told the Herald this week. Kerileng and other concerned Extension 3 residents also showed The Herald where the show houses had been demolished. These beneficiaries were even more inconvenienced because the contractors have made no effort to remove the building rubble from their yards and have left the foundations in place, making life a little congested for the pensioners in their own yards. “They admitted that the houses were demolished because the plans were not right. Why didn’t they make sure everything was okay before they started building and moving people around? “The community is losing hope and trust in the government. If they cannot do the job, why don’t they let us build the houses ourselves. There are enough qualified builders in this area. If they do not start building by the end of September, we will have to start taking further
action,” said Kerileng, firmly. Adding to their frustration is the inaccessibility of provincial government officials when it comes to following up, as
they were constantly being moved to other projects. Mr Vusi Mcunana, a DA councillor and a relative of some of those waiting for houses, also previously indicated that he had personally attended the meeting where local politicians promised the houses would be completed by the end of March.
The Herald sent related questions to the Merafong City Local Municipality and to Mr Motsamai Motlhaolwa, the spokesman for the Gauteng MEC for
Local Government and Traditional Affairs. Although Motlaolwa did not respond, the municipality explained that, as it is a provincial project, all queries
relating to Ext. 3 should be submitted to the West Rand Human Settlement Regional Office. The project was originally approved and the stands allocated to beneficiaries. “After the results of an extensive geological survey were released, construction of the top structures had to be cancelled. The Provincial Department of Housing will bear the geotechnical information in mind when it makes its decision,” the spokesperson said.
