Mary Blom (59) and her brother Tommy Du Plessis have been on the waiting list for an RDP house for 15 years. Blom lives in a one room shack in Bowker Street in Hoogenoeg.

The municipality told them that the list is too long so they have to re-apply again. Mary has also applied for housing in Vergenoeg but she says other people were given houses first.

Mary Blom (59) and her brother Tommy Du Plessis have been on the waiting list for an RDP house for 15 years. Blom lives in a one room shack in Bowker Street in Hoogenoeg.

The municipality told them that the list is too long so they have to re-apply again. Mary has also applied for housing in Vergenoeg but she says other people were given houses first.

Mary and her brother both depend on their disability grant as a  source of income. “Tommy suffered from a stroke and is unable to look after himself,” said Mary.

She said that she finds it very difficult looking after the house and her brother and says that she will be very happy if her brother is given a place at McKaizer Home for the Aged.

She says that she has applied for her brother to stay in the home, but they said they are too full. “The room is too small for me, I use it as a toilet, a kitchen and a bedroom.

I can’t go on like this,” she said. Blom has spoken to ward 11 councillor, Lena May and was told that she would get a  house, but she is still waiting.

“I feel I have the right to a house because I have been waiting too long,” Blom said. According to Blom she is not the only one who has been waiting on the list for many years. She knows many people who have been on the waiting list for a long time.

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