RDP houses are slowly being transformed and locations are being upgraded. Single bedroom houses with a little window are no longer being used as the standard layout.
RDP houses are slowly being transformed and locations are being upgraded. Single bedroom houses with a little window are no longer being used as the standard layout.
“We have seen the pitfalls in what was done before and so we are trying to improve things,” said Makana Head of Housing, Kaiser Nxamleko.
As many as 440 households in Transit Camp, (a sub section of Extension 9) have been improved. “Everyone that lived in the area prior to 2002 has been upgraded and we have paid for the formalisation of the area,” said Nxamleko.
Two bedroom houses with a kitchen, bathroom and lounge area have become the new face of RDP houses. New home owner Zola Ntsangulana and his wife, Salina, previously lived in a single roomed shack with no ventilation.
“I am happy I now have a room for visitors, when they come and see us they can stay over,” said Ntsangulana.
Nxamleko explained that an increase in funds from the government for the Reconstruction Development Programme has enabled this transformation.
“With more money we can do more things,” he said. Layout plans for the transformation of Extension 10 have also began and therefore the department is working together with the provincial sector, added Nxamleko.
Ntsangulana explained that he was meant to move into his new house by early August but a delay in materials has made this impossible.
He adds that the water pipes have been installed but that he is waiting for workers from the municipality to come and connect them so that he can have running water.
“Initially the project was supposed to take five months but there have been some challenges which have caused for this delay but the houses will be finished,” he said.
For Ntsangulana the next step is applying for a government grant for his paralysed leg so he can supplement the income his wife earns selling food on the street corner.
Raising R760 has become his goal as he would like to install an electricity pre-paid meter in his new home.
