The DA has successfully forced the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements (DHS) to rebuild a dilapidating RDP house of a pensioner.
In September 2021, DA councillors approached the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate the DHS over inferior built RDP houses in Extention 4, Rooikopen, near Standerton in the Lekwa Local Municipality.
The DA also wanted the SAHRC to intervene and force the department to rebuild a house for a pensioner, Johanna Khanye, who was living in an informal structure because her RDP house in Extention 7, Kwa-Binda Section, near Standerton, had to be demolished because of structural defects.
In January and February this year, SAHRC sent separate letters to DHS requesting them to respond to the DA’s complaint over Miss Khanye’s house and the Rooikopen houses. The department failed to respond and were subsequently summoned to a hearing on 24 June 2022.
On 27 June 2022, after the hearing, the DHS in a letter to the SAHRC acknowledged their failure to respond on time, despite several attempts by the SAHRC to remind them. They promised to respond on time in the future.
The DHS also committed to rebuild Miss Khanye’s house by the end of August 2022. They intend to investigate the structural state of the houses built in Extention 4, Rooikopen.
The DA is happy with the outcome of this whole process, and on behalf of residents of Extention 4, Rooikopen, Kwa-Binda Section, we would like to thank the SAHRC for taking this matter seriously.
The DA will however monitor the situation to make sure that the DHS and the Lekwa Municipality fulfil their mandate in the allocated timeframe.