Cape Town - For 17 years, they have been waiting in temporary houses, hoping to get decent and permanent houses after their homes were destroyed in fire in 2005.
Residents of a Temporary Relocation Area situated in Watergang, Kayamandi in Stellenbosch were moved to the area after their shacks were destroyed in the 2005 fire.
According to Ayanda Ngubane, who was one of 350 people who moved, they were under the impression it would be for a short time.
Now they have been there for 17 years.
Ngubane said the houses have now reached their life span and are no longer conducive for human inhabitants.
“When we moved here, we thought it would be for a short period of time.
“We were very excited. However, when five years passed without being moved, I knew we were taken for a ride.
“We thought we had moved from a disastrous place, but now we find ourselves in a worse area than our shacks as these houses don’t even have proper toilets,” said Ngubani.
Ngubane said if he had the option to move back, he would have gladly done so.
“We tried everything. We submitted countless documents, and there was promise after promise, but all we see is people getting RDP houses before us.
“The worse part is that some of these people are not even from the 2005 era.”
Ngubani pleaded with the Department of Human Settlement to intervene, as they had now lost all hope.
Ward 14 councillor Masomelele Danana said he is aware of the living conditions of people like Ngubane in Watergang, and they were trying their best to address the situation.
“I agree this area was meant for temporary houses. However, over the years, I have seen no change.
“As a new councillor in this area, I would have hoped that this issue would have been dealt with a long time ago,” said Danana.
He said the issue of Watergang has been discussed in council, and there have already been plans approved to move some people, and they believe many people will benefit from this.
“My hope is for the people who have been here for a very long time, such as those from 2005, to benefit first from the development that is being planned. However, we can’t guarantee that because there’s an issue of people not qualifying for government subsidies, which has been one of the main factors that contributed to this matter,” said Danana.
He stated that for those who do not qualify, the government must provide them with an area or plots on which to build their own homes.
According to Stuart Grobbelaar, the Stellenbosch municipality’s spokesperson, the municipality built about 350 emergency houses, also known as Temporary Relocation Area 1 (TRA1) units, to accommodate fire victims.
He said the Watergang Housing Project consisted of different phases, and between 2008 and 2013, allocations were made to families living in TRA1 units who qualified for a government subsidy.
Many of the current occupants still living in the TRA1 structures did not meet the criteria to qualify for a housing subsidy.
“Between 2008 and 2013, a total of 186 families were moved out of the TRA units and into houses constructed as part of the Watergang Housing Project.
“While the council was moving new families into TRA1, many of the vacant units were illegally occupied.
“This unfortunately impacted negatively on the further allocation to other families,” said Grobbelaar.
He said the municipality tries its best to assist qualifying families to move into the TRA units in order for development to commence, but this process is time and again delayed or hampered due to the illegal occupation of TRA units.
“Currently, development rights are being obtained for an integrated housing project known as the Northern Extension, whereby housing challenges in Kayamandi would be addressed.
“The Northern Extension will be a mixed-use development that aims to create more than 5 000 housing opportunities and will include a range of community amenities and small business opportunities,” he said.