Kona’s trouble started last year, in June, when the house that he and his wife used to occupy was completely destroyed in a storm. The George Herald featured the particular house on the front page when reporting on the extensive damage caused.
Kona started correspondence with the George municipality in which he appealed for help with the rebuilding of the house. The facts surrounding his specific case and the answers we received from the municipality, however, revealed information that would be of interest to quite a number of residents in Thembalethu who may encounter similar problems with the rebuilding of damaged low cost housing.
"It’s been a year and a couple of months since the incident and we don’t know what is going on," writes Kona. "I would like to know if they are still waiting for the disaster funding.
"We don’t sleep at night, especially when the wind is strong. It reminds us of what happened that night. The Wendy shack that they built is not strong enough to resist the storm if it should happen again. We don’t even have a toilet to relieve ourselves.
"Our fear is that we will again loose everything if the storm strikes as before. This time around we will not survive."
‘Not a municipal project’
The particular project that Kona’s house forms part of, was not a municipal project but was constructed by Power Properties, appointed by the provincial government that acted as the developer. The munici-pality was therefore not involved in the development process.
Cathy Dippnall, press officer of George municipality, responded to the George He-rald’s enquiry. "After investigating various complaints from beneficiaries the housing department of George municipality stepped in and has, in co-operation with the provincial authorities, appointed a structural engineer who identified 2144 houses in Thembalethu with structural and other defects which requires rectification.
"The house which is the topic of discussion is one of those identified for rectification in terms of the former national rectification programme," said Dippnall.
According to the George municipality, an application was submitted to the provincial housing department for approval for this project a few years ago. An initial approval was given for a rectification project to the amount of R15-million. George munici-pality called for tenders and the lowest recommended tender amounted to R35,6-million.
"The municipality therefore had to submit a revised application to the provincial approval authority in order to obtain approval for the increased amount. At this stage we are awaiting this approval and therefore cannot go ahead with the much needed rectification," she said.
When renting an RDP-house
In its response the municipality states that it is of importance to note that Kona is not the owner of the house, but is a lessee.
"The guidelines of the national and provincial government indicate that the owner of the house (the original bene-ficiary) must be the occupant in order to qualify in terms of the funding programme. Mr Slinger, the original beneficiary, is living in Oudtshoorn and is probably charging Mr Kona a monthly rental," said Dippnall.
Another issue is the salary scale of the current owner. "Mr Slinger's salary exceeds the maximum allowable monthly income required for subsidy approval and will therefore not qualify in terms of the rectification programme.
"In view of the aforementioned an application has also been submitted to the provincial human settlement department in terms of the emergency housing programme. The house under discussion will be rebuilt as soon as the necessary approval has been obtained from the provincial authority.
"In the interim the municipality has erected a good quality temporary structure to house the current tenants and is doing its utmost to acquire the much needed funding to rectify the problem.
"The toilet is in good working condition and instruction has already been given for it to be enclosed."
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: MICHELLE PIENAAR
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The Konas’ home was completely wrecked after the storm last year in June.
