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THURSDAY 27 February 2014 | 0021 910 6500 | Fax: 021 910 6501/06 | Email: post@peoplespost.co.za | Website: www.peoplespost.co.za | Mobisite: ppost.mobi
LAVENDER HILL: HOUSING BENEFICIARIES DISSATISFIED WITH SHODDY CONSTRUCTION
Homegroan for families TAURIQ HASSEN @TauriqHassen
T
ensions are growing within the Cuba Heights community as they patiently await to start a new life in their homes. However, since the project started just over a year ago, only five houses have been completed – and not to the satisfaction of residents. Beneficiary Charla De Waal says many of the homes are poorly constructed and managed incorrectly. Currently living in a shack, De Waal says she is saddened to see so many of the houses vandalised and used as hang-out spots for drug users. “I refuse to move into my home until I get the green light, because there are still too many problems with the houses. The builders sort it out," she says. De Waal adds some residents have already moved in illegally. “To my understanding, the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement will be serving these people with notices to leave the premises, because they are not supposed to have moved in,” she adds. The joy and excitement of moving from her shack to a house has dimmed for Melicent Matthews. “Just because we live in shacks, it doesn’t mean the quality of the houses must be the same; we are also human beings. Some of these houses cannot be safe for humans to live in,” she says. Matthews claims to have heard several rumours about the contractors appointed by the City. At the top of the list of complaints is the lack of communication with residents, length of construction time and quality of houses. “We should not accept what we are given, especially when the quality is not up to standard,” Matthews fumes. The civil engineering portion of the project was completed under a separate contract in July 2012. Elections for a support organisation were held in June 2012 and, following presentations by various contractors, a contractor appointed by the Support Organisation in
Fabulous fashionista Feathers, boas, bold colours, glitz and over thetop glamour was the order of the day with the annual Miss Cape Town Gay Pride com petition at the Joseph Stone Auditorium on Saturday night. Participants such as Jenna Fantabisher, who was crowned second princess, took to the stage to per form. Manila Von Teese was crowned the winner. The pageant formed part of the Cape Town Pride Festival. The Pride Parade will be held in the streets of the CBD on Saturday 1 March, while there will also be a street festival in the Gay Vil lage, bordered by Napier, Co bern and Liddle streets. PHO TO: LIZA VAN DEVENTER/FOTO24
September 2012. The contractor made little progress, but the Support Organisation seemed unwilling to terminate the contract. In December last year, the contractor surrendered the project to the joint venture partner PHP Building Suppliers. To date, 54 houses are under construction as part of the first phase of 100 houses. Another 27 houses are between 90% to 100% complete and all 54 are scheduled for completion by the end of next month. Community activist, Colin Arendse, explains that in one instance, a house was built over a sewerage system, forcing the contractors to consider demolishing the newly built house. “Beneficiaries want to expose the City’s
haphazard manner in which they have dealt with these festering problems,” he says. Arendse also received complaints such as cracks, open electric sockets and faulty ablution systems. The City acknowledges the problems of the project. But Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements Tandeka Gqada, says the City cannot intervene as the project is a People’s Housing Process (PHP) programme. “The community elected to build under the PHP programme, under which the community takes ownership of the project, appoints a contractor from the provincial Department of Human Settlements database and selects a support organisation from the
community to oversee the project on their behalf,” she says. “The City fulfils the role of accounts administrator and staged payments are made to the contractor at the sign off of each stage.” Gqada adds the completion is hampered by beneficiaries who have “illegally occupied incomplete houses”. Building inspectors from the City, provincial government and the national Home Builders Registration Council will inspect the houses independently. “No payments are made without their respective sign-offs,” Gqada says. V If beneficiaries are encountering problems, they can phone the project manager on (021) 918 7264.