A pensioner from Wedela is living in a shack while the house that was allocated to him years ago is being occupied by another family. According to Mr Godfrey Ngubenani (63), he had applied for a low-cost house in Wedela in 1999. In 2000, he was retrenched from his position at Elandsrand Mine because he was getting too old for the work he was doing before. Although Ngubenani says he would have loved to continue staying in Wedela, he had
no house or income and, therefore, decided to move back to his relatives in the Eastern Cape. When he tried to apply for a low-cost house in the Eastern Cape in 2014, officials there indicated that he did not qualify because he already owned a low-cost house in Wedela. Upon further investigation, Ngubenani obtained documents which indicated that, unbeknown to him, a low-cost house had been built forhim in Wedela as far back as 1999. “If I knew that, I would never have moved away,” Ngubenani said last week. He travelled back to Wedela last year to claim his house, only to find that another family was living there. Ngubenani told the Herald that, as far as he could determine, his house was originally on loan to another family, who later sold it to the current occupants. According to Ngubenani and Mr Ayanda Makaka, a community leader trying to assist him, they have struggled with municipal officials since last year to try and get Ngubenani’s house back. The pensioner is presently staying in a small shack nearby.
The Herald questioned the Merafong City Local Municipality but a spokesperson denied any knowledge of the matter. “The municipality is unaware of this specific complaint. Mr Ngubenani is requested to contact the manager of housing, Mr Lemmy Jofile at the municipal head office to discuss the complaint,” the spokesperson said.
