Magareng local municipality in Warrenton is accused of maladministration and failure to deliver decent housing to the poor after the spotlight came under the 54 poorly build RDP houses in Warrenvale, constructed almost 25 years ago.
The now crumbling houses, which were later named at the “Vaalblock huise,” have been surrounded by controversy due to defects, which stands to risk the safety of the occupants.
The occupants, who have grown tired of complaining at the municipality, revealed that their homes started falling apart during the first few months after the handover between 2003-2005.
They have been living in fear of one day being buried under the rubble of their own homes, especially during the windy and rainy seasons.
The houses were named as Vaalblock huise due to the poor state as they were, without even being plastered inside and outside.
Apparently the community had initially refused to accept the houses when they saw it as the municipality’s effort of stripping their dignity.
They said the houses which were built before and after theirs were much more dignified and decent.
The community rejected after learning that the same project was dumped on them after being rejected in Tsantsabane local municipality in Postmasburg.
They said they were threatened that they would never ever get RDP houses if they did not accept the Vaalblok huise.
According to the occupants, the houses started developing serious cracks on the walls and floors, and walls peeling off, during the first few months.
Their efforts of minimizing the situation through covering the cracks with thick cement plastering remained fruitless.
It was within a year that some of the houses showed signs of collapsing as the walls started cracking away from the foundation.
The cracks grew bigger, making it possible for one to see through them.
The bricks also started to get brittle throughout the years, and developing deep holes.
One of the occupants is 53 year old Doreen Eksteen, expressed how she go to bed terrified that she might not see another day, especially during the windy and rainy days.
Eksteen, who is a widow, has been staying in the 4 roomed RDP house with 2 of her children and 4 grandchildren since it was handed over in 2003.
She says the house was handed to her without any plastering done, and only the toilet without a basin or a bath.
She has been advocating for their houses to be given the necessary attention over the years but government only shows up during the electioneering campaigns.
In that regard, she has also become a regular complainant at her Magareng Local municipality to do follow up but there seems to be no progress.
She said she can’t even cover the dusty floor with tiles because they are unable to stick forever. The wind blows the windows open because the frames are loose, and it will be useless to fix them because of the cracks.
“Some of the occupants manage to repeatedly cover the cracks with plaster, but some of us can’t even afford to do such renovations.
“When my husband died in 2018, he was preparing to re-build the walls from scratch, with the intention of breaking the old wall. But unfortunately he died before he could finish what he started, neither can I,” she said.
“We were desperate for houses, that is why we got a raw deal and were threatened.
“It is clear that too much sand was used to mix the cement. One can even use a stick to scratch out a brick. You won’t even have to struggle to remove a brick in the wall.”
“One of the houses was re-build three times under our watch, while the rest of the houses remained untouched.”
She added that she has highlighted this to the municipality, motivating that there is enough space inside the yard to build another house if they intend on rectifying the mess.
“Doing renovations to such a house is not the solution, what is needed is just to build a new house.”
She said she has spent a lot of money on replacing furniture and cupboards which keep on rotting away.
The Chairperson and found of the Municipal Public Participation Forum(MPPF) Jan Louw lauded at how it has become a burden for the occupants to be living in those houses.
The forum was established in Warrenton in 2024, with the aim of engaging with the municipality on its policies, and by-laws to address service delivery.
He said a total of 127 grey blockhouses project was rolled throughout Warrenton, including Ikhutseng township between 2003 and 2005 after being rejected in Postmasburg merely because Warrenton was being taken advantage of.
He said the poor housing system was due to lack of due diligence by the then contractor Pizzaro Construction company whereby anyone was allowed to sub contact without producing proper CIDB registration.
According to Louw, everything was wrong throughout the construction process of houses in question due to lack of proper supervision at the site, which resulted in several cases opened against the contractor.
He said several other houses were built in Ikhutseng are inaccessible regardless of being erected for the disabled, making it an inconvenience to the poor beneficiaries.
Louw highlighted that Magareng local municipality continues to receive Qualified Audit Reports over the past 5 years but nothing is being done.
“The building material was being stolen and sold backdoor while new houses displayed clear signs of shoddiness and poor workmanship.
“The bricks used to build those houses were of the poorest quality, and not SABS quality approved,” said Louw.
“During our inspections, it was discovered that furniture was damaged due to the quality of construction on the houses, and not due to water entering the houses.
“One could smell the dampness when entering the homes, including that of the furniture. That was due to the condition of the building material used.
“It was confirmed during inspections that the water sucked through the bricks,’ Louw added.
“At some stage they wanted to shift the blame that there was something wrong with the site where the houses were built on. T
he inspections proved that there was nothing wrong with the area.”
“This municipality continues to painting a good picture of the housing report, but when you know the truth you will want to cry.”
He expressed how frustrating and humiliating it has become when no material irregularities were reported since 2019, and no findings on the performance report, including compliance on legislation by the Auditor General.
In 2023/2024, the municipality disclosed the spending of R7,35 million on repairing and maintaining property, plant and equipment in the annual financial statements.
“They get elected on provincial get Unqualified structures but they don’t care and continue to do shoddy work, as they deploy their cadres and families to head the projects.”
“What needs to be done now is for all those houses to be demolished and build from scratch.”
The Department of Co-operative Government, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) in the Northern Cape had earlier approached the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) to conduct a forensic investigation on the structural integrity of the houses following the continuous complaints, supported by the intervention by the Public Protector.
This was for Coghsta to get recommendations on any remedial action that needed to be taken to make the houses structurally sound, after the completion of the forensic investigation by the NHBRC.
Coghsta spokesperson Babalwa Mzambo said the forensic report, which outlines the necessary measures that need to be taken, was received in September 2024.
According to Mzambo, only one house needs rebuilding, but she does not commit to a timeframe.
“According to the report, 39 out of the 40 houses in Vaalblock require remedial maintenance, while only one house needs to be completely rebuilt,” said Mzambo.
She did not elaborate whether the house that needs re-building is that of Eksteen.
Mzambo explained that all the houses in question were constructed prior to 2012 whereby the municipality was still responsible for building the houses.
“All funds were transferred to the municipality for this purpose, and no new budget has been set aside for these houses at this stage.”
She distanced herself from reports of repeated rebuilds of one of the 54 houses.
“We do not have information about the specific house mentioned, so we cannot provide an explanation for it’s repeated rebuilds.
As a department, we have not conducted any rebuilding work in that area.”
Meanwhile The Frances Baard District Municipality has allocated R11 million to local municipalities following the tabling of the adjustment budget for the 2024/25 financial year and its mid-term performance review.
Magareng was allocated R2 million while Dikgatlong, Phokwane and Sol Plaatje each received an allocation to R3 million to enhance service delivery and infrastructure development.
