A wheelchair-bound pensioner, Mpazima Mathebula is now the exultant owner of his own home in Wilgespruit, an agricultural smallholding near Roodepoort.
The 86-year-old had been homeless since 2017, living in contemptible makeshift tents and corrugated iron shacks on a farm west of Johannesburg.
Mathebula became displaced after he and scores of others were evicted from a plot of land they had been squatting on.
“I am very grateful for this property, even if it’s temporary but it’s a decent home that I’ll always be grateful for, thank you so much,” Mathebula told Geoff Makhubo, the Executive Mayor, who handed him keys to his wheelchair friendly house.
Mathebula is one of over 70 beneficiaries of these temporary wooden houses, which have a lifespan of about 10 years. The units were commissioned by the national Department of Housing and the City to alleviate overcrowding in Wilgespruit and to foster dignity in the densely populated informal settlement.
“It makes me happy that Ntate Mathebula will now enjoy the dignity of owning a decent home and having decent shelter,” said Makhubo after cutting the ribbon and handing over keys to the house.
The Mayor was accompanied by Housing Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Lebogang Maile, Joburg’s Housing MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso and the MMC for Public Safety, Mally Mokoena.
“Through inter-government relations, we have ensured that residents of Wilgespruit now have dignified homes and that they are moved from atrocious conditions to these beautiful homes,” the Mayor said.
Sisulu described living conditions in Wilgespruit as deplorable, noting that this is what prompted her to prioritise the area for the piloting of government's new housing model of temporary units as a stopgap measure to mitigate the housing backlog.
“Their living conditions made it difficult to adhere to some of the Covid-19 regulations such as social-distancing and practising safe hygiene. We’re glad that their lives have now changed for the better and their dignity restored,” she said.
