Premier Mabuza builds a house for a 97 year old
Coronation Park granny
04 June 2012
A 97 year old granny, who lives in a mud house with her
two grand-children and a disabled son, did not believe her eyes and ears when
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza visited her in a poverty stricken Coronation
Park just outside Witbank and told her that he would build a new house for her.
A destitute Ms Sarah Ngele’s plight was brought to the
Premier’s attention by a daily newspaper article that her mud house was slowly
collapsing and had a mine sink- hole inside.
She was reportedly asking for an urgent assistance for an
RDP house since she had been on a government waiting list in vain since year
2000.
When Premier Mabuza brought her the good news of a new
three – bedroom house to be equipped with water, lights and furniture, Ms Ngele
who did not recognise the Premier, worryingly told him that she did not have
money to buy iron sheets to erect a new shack.
This was before the Premier assured her that it would not
be a shack but an all-expense paid proper house by an un-named sponsor.
“I am extremely poor Mr Mabuza, I only survive through hand-outs from the good people around here. My son is not working, he is living with disability and life is very difficult. My main concern though is that I need an RDP house because this one would fall down at any time,” she told the Premier.
Mabuza explained to her that the construction of her house
would be completed in two weeks’ time.
“I have people with me who have volunteered to build a house for you, you would be moved to a suitable place where you would live happily with your family,” said the Premier.
After his visit, Mabuza said the plight of Ms Ngele was
just a tip of an iceberg. He called on Emalahleni Municipality Executive Mayor
to identify an appropriate land for housing and have all approximately 3000
Coronation Park residence removed from the “time-bomb”.
Coronation Park is an informal settlement on an
un-rehabilitated mining area by people who flocked to Witbank in search of jobs.
From time-to-time the land continues to naturally drip down.
"These people are living on a time-bomb. We need to move them to an ideal place for human settlement. If it was in my power, I would have moved them as early as tomorrow; these are not living conditions for human beings.
Government must take necessary steps and intervene urgently. Besides the lack of houses, it is not safe and not healthy to live here,” the Premier said.
Mabuza however raised a concern that many people subjected
themselves to such harsh and bad living conditions because they either had
houses where they originally came from or some had sold or rented out their RDP
houses.
“Communities need to partner with us, once they get the RDP houses, they do not have to sell them on grounds that they would rather opt to live in the shacks just to make money. This makes us as a government to look as if we are failing to deal with informal settlements.
“Come rain or sunshine, we are going to win this war as long as people who have received RDP houses desist from rebuilding and going back to shacks after we have allocated houses, ” said Mabuza.
Contact person:
Zibonele Mncwango
Tel: (013) 766 2453
Cell: 079 491 0163
E-mail:
zmncwango@mpg.gov.za
Issued by Office of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
