Relentless in its efforts to rehabilitate storm-damaged houses at various locations around the City of Mbombela, the Department of Human Settlements has added 12 new contractors to increase capacity on the ground.
This follows community concerns and some beneficiaries that the rehabilitation of their storm affected houses was very slow.
“The department has moved swiftly to add the new contractors to the existing three which were appointed immediately after the May 2018 natural disaster that befell the municipality,” said Freddy Ngobe spokesperson for the department.
KaNyamazane underwent a three-week long public protest against the apparent delays in fixing their storm-damaged houses. The public protests delayed the delivery of the project which had already been started in July. The newly-appointed local contractors have since been introduced to the local leadership to ensure smooth coordination and delivery.
READ: Storm affects Kanyamazane homes
Sequel to the protests, Premier Refilwe Mtsweni had several engagements with the community and visited few houses this week to assess progress on site.
Mtsweni expressed her approval with the progress thus far and instructed the contractors to prioritise all houses that remain roofless mostly in ward 21.
“Much as the community protests had an effect on the work on site, houses will be prioritized and contractors have been instructed to increase their personnel to ensure maximum delivery,” she stressed.
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“The newly-appointed contractors are doing everything possible to ensure that critical houses are being attended to and people’s lives are restored,” confirmed Human Settlements Head, Mr Kebone Masange.
The Department has also ensured that the newly-appointed contractors have signed their service level agreements (SLAs) with the department.
Meanwhile, the Department is still awaiting feedback from the National Department of Human Settlements on additional funding to augment the earmarked R19 million set for natural disasters throughout the province in the current financial year.
