Human Settlements Minister NomaIndia Mfeketho has cautioned communities to refrain from illegally occupying houses that are yet to be allocated to their rightful beneficiaries. Mfeketho revealed this during the launch of three social housing projects at Hilltop, near Bellair, in the eThekwini Municipality.
The 750 units for rent accommodate people who earn between R3 500 and R15 000.
KwaZulu-Natal has the second-largest housing backlog nationwide. Mfeketho has urged the beneficiaries to pay their rent so that their houses can be maintained.
“It’s our collective responsibility that we all abide by the rules. When you want a house people know where to go to and they’ll be waiting in the queue for that particular house and the government will give them a house because by invading houses you really deprive people who followed the rules in doing something correctly and you just want to invade, and I hope authorities will monitor such events and deal with them amicably.”
A 35-year-old beneficiary Mnqobi Mbambo is wheelchair bound. He says the new apartment is wheelchair-friendly and affordable.
“Sometimes it was a little bit of challenge for me when they have a problem with their lifts, I had to wait for them to call the technicians . So here it’s a place which is on a ground floor. It has got ramps, I don’t need to take any stairs, there are no lifts.”
