A Xolani woman's desperate pleas for a decent home have been answered. Grocott's Mail reported on the pensioner's plight last week. The article stated that Nontsikelelo Nyenge, 67, would give anything to own a decent house.
A Xolani woman's desperate pleas for a decent home have been answered. Grocott's Mail reported on the pensioner's plight last week. The article stated that Nontsikelelo Nyenge, 67, would give anything to own a decent house.
The resident of the informal settlement, known as Xolani Squatters, has lived in her mud house for about two decades in the hope that some day she would benefit from the RDP houses that have been rolled out over the years but which have gone to other people.
What pains Nyenge even more is seeing decent RDP houses in the current Extension 10 housing project being vandalised, while she and her family continue to live in unbearable conditions.
She arrived in Grahamstown in 1990 and rented a house in Tantyi under difficult circumstances, before building her own shack in Xolani.
The South African National Civil Organisation (SANCO) stepped in after reading about Nyenge's plight in Grocott's Mail.
The SANCO Makana Secretary, Zakunzima Tyala, said it had come to their attention that her home in Xolani was falling apart and they contacted the relevant people at the city hall to try and get her help.
He told Grocott's Mail that they got the blessing of acting municipal manager, Riana Meiring, to allow Nyenge and her neighbour, Nolulamile Ngqina, 75, who is facing similar problems, to be moved into the vandalised houses in Extension 10.
"This is a temporary arrangement so that they can be prioritised for houses during phase two of that project," he said.
Tyala said the two women's names are number one and two on the list for phase two. SANCO solicited the help of two local hardware stores, Buco and Penny Pinchers, for material to fix the vandalised houses.
"The contractor [Uphahla Construction] was also kind enough to provide the man-power to fix the vandalised homes using the sponsored material," Tyala said.
Nyenge thanked SANCO and everyone who played a part in making sure that she was able to move into a decent house.
"I thank them a lot for removing me from that situation. It was very bad, especially for my health," she said.
"God sent those children to come and rescue me from that desperate situation," she added.
The 67-year-old grandmother said she would do all she can to cope in the double storey house she has been moved into, even though it's impossible to walk up and down the stairs by herself.
"I wait for my daughter, Nomakhaya to come back from work before I can climb the stairs," she said.
When Grocott's Mail visited Nyenge and Ngqina in their new houses on Tuesday, the material for the flushing toilet was not yet installed and they were without electricity.
This was still the case by late yesterday. Kind neighbours have allowed them to use their toilets and electricity.
Nyenge has been on the waiting list ever since she arrived in Grahamstown and she has continued to make sure she registers for every housing development initiative that has come along over the years, without any success.
"Even last year I went to 'BAAB' [the municipal housing department which many still refer to by its apartheid name, the Bantu Affairs Administration Board]to register for the Extension 10 housing project, but that hasn't yielded any success," she said.
During the recent storms, Nyenge says, she and her family battled leaking roofs and water coming into their home from every side. "We had to lock ourselves into one room," she said.
Residents of Xolani Squatters have been living in the area since the 1990s without flushing toilets. They still use communal taps.
anele@grocotts.co.za
