Renewed plea for homes from shack dwellers
More than 300 shack dwellers pleaded with human settlements deputy minister Zoe Kota-Mpeko for decent housing when she visited Mdantsane’s NU1 on Friday.
Residents from informal settlements around Mdantsane told Kota-Mpeko they battled to get formal housing and service delivery.
Boniswa Mfene, of Nondulo informal settlement, said: “I wish I could take the deputy minister to see where we live so she can decide if that condition is good for any human being. We do not have water and we patch our shacks up all the time. We are not getting any houses and I will die and be buried in a shack.”
Mandla Qamata, of Dacau informal settlement, echoed these sentiments.
“We have been living in shacks since 1990. Councillors come and go. They just want to be councillors and only come to us before elections. After being elected, they are never seen.”
According to another resident, Xolani Ngxongo, more than 200 people from Nondula informal settlement share three communal toilets.
Kota-Mpeko said she would engage with Buffalo City Metro.
Ward councillor Senduka Maphuka said the municipality was looking for land to build houses for 650 families...
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