Twenty-five houses were handed to residents in ward 81 in uMlazi on 1 August. A further 15 houses were handed to beneficaries in ward 100.
THE lives of over 40 families are forever changed as they received the keys to their new homes from City officials recently during two house handover events. In the first handover, eThekwini Deputy Mayor Councillor Philani Mavundla handed over 25 houses in ward 81 to families whose homes were damaged by the floods earlier this year.
Each house accommodates six people and has three bedrooms with a bedroom for each family. In the second house handover, 15 families from ward 100 were elated to finally have a home of their own. One of the beneficiaries from ward 100 is the Ngwazi family who have for many years called a leaking tin house home. However, they will no longer worry when it rains as they received the keys to a brand-new house from ward 100 Councillor Mbuyiseni Mkhize. The house handover is part of the City’s multimillion rand Vumengazi Project.
Busisiwe Ngwazi said they are extremely grateful to Councillor Mbuyiseni Mkhize and the Municipality for including them among those who benefited from the housing project. “My family will now sleep easy without worrying about the condition of the house during bad weather. Our old tin house was in a terrible condition, our living situation was very bad but now we have hope as we have a new house to live in,” she said with a beaming smile.
Councillor Mkhize said 15 families received the keys to their new houses on the day. “About 3 466 houses will be built under this project. Thus far we have completed around 400 houses,” he said. He said the handover is part of efforts to provide housing for people in rural areas. “We are prioritising residents living in rural areas. We want them to have safe homes with all the services that others enjoy.” A beneficiary from the ward 81 housing initiative is Nsindiso Xulu who is delighted to have a place to call home after his house was severely damaged in the floods. “This is a milestone achievement for me, I now have a place to call home. I would like to thank eThekwini Municipality for building this house and thank Councillor Mbangeni Mjadu for ensuring this project is a success.” Councillor Mavundla applauded stakeholders for working alongside the City on the project. “This was a multidisciplinary effort of various teams with everyone working hard to ensure this is a success. EThekwini Municipality must be thanked for fast- tracking the housing project.
The City is working tirelessly to restore the situation to normality following the extensive damage to infrastructure. Residents are urged to be patient while we work to repair and restore damaged infrastructure,” he said. Councillor Mjadu commended the City for building houses in the ward and helping to address the housing backlog.
mlungisi.dlamini@durban.gov.za
