Fire victims wait 4 years for houses
Fire victims wait 4 years for houses
21 August 2007
published by www.nmgroup.co.za
by Nyambeni Mandiwana
SEVERAL families are still living in shabby shelters at Tshitangani Village after veld fires gutted their houses four years ago.
Sara Ramagoma (57) and her grandson Khathutshelo are still living in a tent in Tshitangani Village. She cant forget the veld fire that destroyed 27 houses in broad daylight and left her a widow. My husband Samuel died of burns when he was trying to retrieve his identity document. We need RDP houses and the government seems to have forgotten us, she said.
In his budget speech Mayor Thivhulawi Makumbane of the Thulamela Municipality announced the allocation of about 20 housing units, but they were never built. Families are still stranded and living in tents.
Now the Ramagoma family is happy to hear that a wide range of projects designed to support marginalised communities move into the mainstream economy are being implemented across Limpopo with the support of the Limpopo Local Economic Development Programme (LED) and the European Union (EU) who donated R34 million.
The Limpopo department of local government and housing is implementing the programme, which will reduce the backlog and amount of incomplete RDP houses.
The MEC for local government and housing, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said this is an integral part of the provinces strategy to reduce poverty through pro-poor economic growth. “Limpopos 30 districts will benefit from this programme and contractors who just disappeared when their houses were still incomplete have been taken to court regarding the matter. They are supposed to pay the money back, Nkoana-Mashabane said.
