More than a 100 RDP houses meant for desperate homeseekers in the Raymond Mhlaba municipality remain vacant, more than a decade after they were constructed.
The houses were never occupied because the provincial department of human settlements and the municipality are unable to agree on who is currently responsible for the homes.
As a result, the area in Middledrift’s Gugulethu township, a stone’s throw from the maximum security prison, now resembles a ghost town, with residents nearby fearing for their lives. They say the derelict houses are being used as gangster dens.
During a recent Daily Dispatch visit, the team found that most of the houses had been vandalised.
Some were spray-painted with prison gang graffiti and animal carcasses, dung, broken bottles and other waste littered the area.
Raymond Mhlaba municipal spokeswoman Cynthia Mokitimi last week blamed the provincial human settlements department, saying the vandalised and deserted houses were their baby.
“The Middledrift Gugulethu housing project is still with the department of human settlements, and has not been handed over to the municipality, therefore it is still their responsibility,” she said.
“The municipality is still waiting for the department to start the rectification process.”
Human settlements spokeswoman Phiwokuhle Soga said: “When it comes to allocation of houses, it is the responsibility of the municipality.
“Please kindly direct this inquiry to them.”
Resident Mancedo Ntanta told the Dispatch that most of the dilapidated houses are being used for criminal activities.
“We cannot move freely at night, especially our female neighbours and children, as we don’t know who is watching us from inside these vandalised houses.
“Fortunately, so far there has been no dead person found in any of them, but we fear for the safety of our families as these thugs smoke drugs and drink alcohol at night while watching our every move.
“Some of the people we have seen in some of these houses are not even from here and we fear that they are also used to harbour criminals who are on the run from elsewhere,” Ntanta said.
Another concerned resident, Jomo Mfazwe, said that stolen livestock was sometimes slaughtered at some of the houses.
Asked about alleged criminal activities taking place in the houses, Mokitimi said her municipality was working closely with the police to conduct “constant patrols in the area to curb the said criminal activities”.
Mfazwe said the houses were built around 2003 and that some of them were never completed when the contractor abandoned the site more than a decade ago.
“Many people from Middledrift’s surrounding villages, who were meant to be beneficiaries of these houses, still remain without decent shelter while all of this is going to waste.
“This shows lack of seriousness from our government if houses can be built and then left to be vandalised, while we still have people in desperate need of decent houses,” Mfazwe said.
Blame game as RDP house shells moulder
The houses were never occupied because the provincial department of human settlements and the municipality are unable to agree on who is currently responsible for the homes.
As a result, the area in Middledrift’s Gugulethu township, a stone’s throw from the maximum security prison, now resembles a ghost town, with residents nearby fearing for their lives. They say the derelict houses are being used as gangster dens.
During a recent Daily Dispatch visit, the team found that most of the houses had been vandalised.
Some were spray-painted with prison gang graffiti and animal carcasses, dung, broken bottles and other waste littered the area.
Raymond Mhlaba municipal spokeswoman Cynthia Mokitimi last week blamed the provincial human settlements department, saying the vandalised and deserted houses were their baby.
“The Middledrift Gugulethu housing project is still with the department of human settlements, and has not been handed over to the municipality, therefore it is still their responsibility,” she said.
“The municipality is still waiting for the department to start the rectification process.”
Human settlements spokeswoman Phiwokuhle Soga said: “When it comes to allocation of houses, it is the responsibility of the municipality.
“Please kindly direct this inquiry to them.”
Resident Mancedo Ntanta told the Dispatch that most of the dilapidated houses are being used for criminal activities.
“We cannot move freely at night, especially our female neighbours and children, as we don’t know who is watching us from inside these vandalised houses.
“Fortunately, so far there has been no dead person found in any of them, but we fear for the safety of our families as these thugs smoke drugs and drink alcohol at night while watching our every move.
“Some of the people we have seen in some of these houses are not even from here and we fear that they are also used to harbour criminals who are on the run from elsewhere,” Ntanta said.
Another concerned resident, Jomo Mfazwe, said that stolen livestock was sometimes slaughtered at some of the houses.
Asked about alleged criminal activities taking place in the houses, Mokitimi said her municipality was working closely with the police to conduct “constant patrols in the area to curb the said criminal activities”.
Mfazwe said the houses were built around 2003 and that some of them were never completed when the contractor abandoned the site more than a decade ago.
“Many people from Middledrift’s surrounding villages, who were meant to be beneficiaries of these houses, still remain without decent shelter while all of this is going to waste.
“This shows lack of seriousness from our government if houses can be built and then left to be vandalised, while we still have people in desperate need of decent houses,” Mfazwe said.
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