Temporary housing relief for some of the 4,000 displace dailymaverick.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymaverick.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tariro Washinyira
About 30 families in Overcome informal settlement near Vrygrond have been sleeping outside for nearly two weeks after a fire destroyed their shacks on 6 January.
Most of the residents are unemployed.
They have been pleading for assistance from the City of Cape Town.
About 30 families in Overcome informal settlement near Vrygrond, Cape Town, have been sleeping outside for nearly two weeks after a fire destroyed their shacks on 6 January.
The residents, most of whom are unemployed, say they have no money to buy material to rebuild their homes. The City of Cape Town announced last month that it would no longer supply emergency kits, which included building material, to victims of fires and flooding. The City will now only assist victims of incidents which have been formally declared a disaster.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has been criticised for her outburst during an inspection of the fire-ravaged Taiwan informal settlement in Site C, Khayelitsha, where a blaze on New Year’s Day left 500 residents homeless.
It was a sweltering day in Cape Town on Tuesday, 5 January, when Sisulu, accompanied by the MMC for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi, and Western Cape MEC Tertius Simmers, ripped down her mask and began shouting at housing activist and Khayelitsha Community Action Network (CAN) member Nkosikhona Swartbooi.
A recording of the encounter has gone viral and Sisulu on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Swartbooi of being an “opportunist” seeking to “hijack the plight of the poor”.
South Africa: Public Urged to Assist Masiphumelele Community allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hawks nab four Housing Development officials over ‘Covid-19 shack settlement’ saga News24 Wire The four are expected to appear in the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Four members of the Housing Development Agency’s (HDA) bid evaluation committee have been arrested on fraud charges in connection with the Talana “Covid-19 shack settlement” scandal.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke said they were arrested in Johannesburg on Friday and face charges of fraud to the tune of R2.4 million in connection with the Talana temporary housing unit project outside Tzaneen in Limpopo.
On Thursday, the Hawks arrested Raymond Maoto, a project manager at the HDA, and Constance Mohlala, director of the Aventino Group CC company in Polokwane.