Residents of Savannah City in De Deur south of Johannesburg fear for their lives due to the gaping cracks that have formed on the walls of their RDP houses.
Some of the cracks are so big that one can fit all four fingers in the crevices.
One of a number of RDP houses in Savanna City south of JHB that has developed gaping cracks. The owners are worried their homes would collapse on them. Details on SABC NEWS. #SABCNEWS @SAfmnews pic.twitter.com/S9Jtii9Le2
— Tshepo (@tphagane) September 20, 2022
The plaster cement on the inside and outside walls are wearing off, roof tiles in some of the houses are falling apart and the water pipes are leaking causing damage to the walls.
Within the same vicinity, there are more than two dozen homes that have been left incomplete.
The Savannah City Mega housing project was launched by the then Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane in 2013 and was set to cost in the region of R24 billion.
Ellen Moshodi was allocated a two-bedroomed RDP house in Savannah City and a year after moving into her dream home it started developing cracks.
The crevice is so big, that it looks as if one room is detaching from the other.
Moshodi says, “My worry is that I live with my child in the house. I do not know that when the time goes and this crack develops further maybe we might see the house collapsing and we would not know what to do. I do not think we are safe because of this crack. And when it rains the wall becomes damp and create a black mark on the inside wall of the house.”
Another resident, who goes by the name of Lerato says, “Whenever it rains water would seep into the house through the roof tiles and run down the inside walls of her sitting room. She complained to the contractor, and the roof tiling was fixed. Little did she know that this was the beginning of even bigger problems. When you flush the toilet – excrement would come out of the basin. They came and fixed the problem and then the issue now is the plaster cement is coming off the wall.”
The more than 20 RDP houses in Savanna City south of JHB built by the Gauteng Human Settlements department have fallen prey to vandals. This whilst the housing waiting list rises. Department says they’ll be completed soo. They been like this since last year. #SABCNEWS pic.twitter.com/MPFtWanfA5
— Tshepo (@tphagane) September 20, 2022
Water leakages
Numerous houses experience piped water leakages that have damaged walls, and water marks are visible inside and outside the walls of the houses.
One such house is that of 86-year-old, Eunice Mpolo, who is forced to spend her meager pension to hire a plumber to fix the recurring problem.
Mpolo says, “The water taps are leaking. I am forced to switch off the water meter outside because water oozes out of the wall. I had to remove the floor carpet because water had flooded the kitchen floor. Here on the windows, as you can hear the strong wind outside, the windows make a rattling noise, and the dust comes into the house even at night, it pains us.”
Another pensioner, Maria Maphisa who was allocated her house in September last year says in the same week that she occupied the home, the ceiling in one of her bedrooms came crashing down.
Maphisa says, “It was raining, and I think one of the roof tiles was damaged and water seeped through. In the morning whilst we were still in bed the ceiling collapsed on us. I went to report, and they came and took pictures.”
It was only last week that a new ceiling was delivered, but she says the contractors just dumped it inside her home and now she must hire a handyman to mount it.
Member of the mayoral committee for Human Settlements in the Midvaal local municipality, Mokete Motsamai, says what is also concerning is that whilst there is a huge demand for houses, there are houses in Savannah City where construction is incomplete and are now being vandalised.
“Those houses were supposed to have been completed in the last financial year. We are in a new financial year and those houses are still not occupied, and they have been vandalised and they have not even been completed. You have so many people on the waiting list.”
However, Gauteng Human Settlements Department’s Tahir Sema insists there are no serious structural defects that have been picked up.
Tema says, “A few hairline cracks were picked up in July 2022. But according to established regulations hairline cracks should not exceed 0.08 millimetres. And no houses were found to have cracks that exceeded 0.08 millimetres in width. Given that these houses were allocated back in December 2018 some of the plumbing works are bound to require maintenance after such a long time. During the final inspection all the plumbing, roof tiles and plaster works were in order.”
This is contrary to evidence gathered by the SABC from the site.
Resident of Savanna City south of JHB showing @SABCNews the gaping cracks that have developed on the RDP houses. The crevices are so big that you can fit-in all four fingers in them. Residents are worried the houses might collapse. #SABCNEWS @SAfmnews pic.twitter.com/cEbxdyV3wu
— Tshepo (@tphagane) September 20, 2022
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