A man has built a home in front of a local church west of Pretoria after he applied for a RDP house years ago, with no luck.
Kappie van Niekerk of Philip Nel Park said he continued to suffer without money and sleeping outside because he has no home.
He has now built himself a structure he calls home.
Van Niekerk said that he has been struggling to find a job to support himself.
“I only depend on piece jobs without which I would have no bread for the day,” he said.
“I am currently fighting against cancer. I am trying by all means to seek medical care,” he said.
“I do not have money and I am currently not working.
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“In the shack I have built, I stay with my wife. She goes out everyday to do piece jobs and make money so we can buy bread.”
He said sometimes they had to go to bed without food.
“When it rains our shack is flooded,” he said.
“It gets cold during the night, I can’t stay warm and my wife and I have no clothes to change daily.”
He said all he needed was a place to stay and food.
“I could build myself a house if I had a job, but now I am not doing anything,” he said.
Van Niekerk said that he had applied for an RDP house eight years ago, and was told to wait.
“They give foreigners RDPs and leave out the people in their own country,” he said.
“I have seen other people getting RDP houses as soon as they apply.”
Danville resident and anti-crime activist at NGO XseBlixem, Frik de Bruin, said that the community was on the lookout for a Wendy house Van Niekerk could use.
“A Wendy house is better unlike staying in the structure he had created in front of the church,” he said adding that another resident had offered to accommodate the Wendy house on her property.
Other residents applauded the initiative.
“It would really be good if the community is willing giving a hand to one of their own,” said resident Sherlock Letseka.
Van Niekerk sheltered in front of the church door until 2018, when the church fenced off its property.
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“Three years ago, before the fence, I could say he was safe when he slept by the church door,” Letseka said.
“Now he sleeps outside the church on the pavement which is not safe at all.”
De Bruin said that it was very dangerous for the man to live on a busy intersection.
“It is also a big problem for the pedestrians and even children that must walk in the street to pass his shack,” he said.
“I’m not saying the man is a threat, but unknown people can plot something bad for an innocent man.”
Concerned resident Verona Makhubela said she had noticed a rise in homelessness in the community.
“You cannot expect people who are homeless to just to disappear. Something behind the scenes might have happened to their houses,” she said.
“You can go to any location – you will find homeless people everywhere.
“The question still stands to the government – why are their own people still homeless in their own communities. What are they doing in order to help them.”
Van Niekerk asked the west community to help him.
The Tshwane metro could not comment at the time of going to print.
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