"How can the [building]inspector approve a house with broken doors, cracks and raining roof ceiling?" Transit Camp resident Andile Simemo had stopped to talk to Grocott's Mail during a march this week, in which residents were protesting against shoddily built houses, and former workers at the construction site were complaining that they hadn't been paid.
"How can the [building]inspector approve a house with broken doors, cracks and raining roof ceiling?" Transit Camp resident Andile Simemo had stopped to talk to Grocott's Mail during a march this week, in which residents were protesting against shoddily built houses, and former workers at the construction site were complaining that they hadn't been paid.
"The quality of the Transit Camp RDP houses is poor because our doors are broken, there are cracks in the walls and the ceiling can fall any time," said fellow protestor Mcedisi Khahlane. Aimed at putting a halt to construction, protestors on Wednesday carried hand-written placards.
Simemo, the group's leader, told Grocotts Mail that while the Grahamstown community might think the project was a positive move, they should come and visit houses. "How can the inspector approve a house with broken doors, cracks and raining roof ceiling," said Simemo.
Simemo also said they didn't want Boniwe Makhasi as their Community Liaison Officer. "We want our own CLO, the one which elected by the residents, Misile Mentyisi," he said.
A former construction employee at Transit complained that he had worked there without getting paid for several months. "They must go somewhere else…" he said. "I fear that the rain might fall any time and destroy our furniture," he said.
Resident Elias Ngcethe said he had an 8-month-old baby and was afraid the ceiling might fall. He said she also got sick because the house was cold and damp. "I think its better to live in my own shack than die with a child in a house that people think is high quality," Ngcethe said.
Another resident, Gladies Jela, said she remembered being awoken one night when the ceiling fell down. "It fell on top of me, and there was no one to help," said Jela. She said one of her doors didn't open at all and that she used only one door.
