GAMAKOFANE – A 33-year-old blind man of Masetlaokeng is living a miserable life and sleeps in a house that is leaking and full of mud.
He has braved the summer storms and rain in a dilapidated half-roof house – his only family is his sister who lives in Lydenburg, about 70 kilometres from Ga-Makofane.
According to concerned community members, Mr David Motswiane solely depends on what his neighbours and well-wishers give him. “He invites himself to every wedding and funeral in the area to receive a decent meal.”
Motswiane pleads with the local municipality to build him an RDP house. He told Steelburger/ Lydenburg News that he went to the municipality (GTM) on several occasions enquiring about the house he had applied for a decade ago.
“I even went to an extent of protesting at their fancy buildings, but nobody cared. They threatened to call the police and told me my application has been blocked.”
Motswiane says the contractors had only built the foundation back in 2005, and promised to complete it but to date nothing has happened.
Congress of the people (COPE)’s Tubatse sub-region chairperson Lekhele Moraba intervened, “We saw the daily hardships the Motswiane family and their neighbours, the Mphogo family had to endure and took the matter to the Public Protector. I can confirm that the Public Protector engaged with the Departments of Cooperate Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), as well as human settlements and they promised to build the house before the end of March.
“If by the agreed date, we don’t see any house erected, we will take the matter to a higher authority. It saddens us to see people still lack basic needs after 20 years of democracy,” he said. While the government is still dragging its feet in building the blind man a house, he continues to be a nuisance to the local villagers.
“I pray for a Good Samaritan to help me and provide me with shelter. I hope my prayers will be answered.”
Motswiane said he decided to choose Steelburger/Lydenburg News to report on his story with the hope that it reaches thousands of readers and shows how the government ignores the needs of the disabled.
The GTM’s spokesperson Thabiso Mokoena was not available for comment.
