Pretoria – He spent most of his adulthood sharing a rented room with his wife and grandchildren in an informal settlement, but he never gave up hope that one day he would have his own home.
On Friday, Sithembiso Mbesi, 67, from Groutville shed tears of joy, when KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu handed him the keys to a brand new house.
In marking his 100 days in office, Premier Mchunu visited Groutville to hand over 50 houses as part of the Slums Clearance Project he announced during his inauguration speech.
As part of the Slums Clearance Project, the Premier committed that within 100 days of office, the provincial government would hand over 50 completed houses in the Groutville Informal Settlement.
The handing over of houses is part of a R274 million informal settlement upgrade at two housing projects in Groutville, KwaDukuza Municipality, on the North Coast.
The houses have electricity, water and sanitation, thus restoring the dignity of the beneficiaries.
Accepting the keys to his new home, an emotional Mbesi thanked the provincial government, adding that in his entire life, he has never owned anything.
“I have heard people expressing their concerns about not having houses, but I remained positive that one day I would get my own house. Now I can die peacefully knowing that I have something of my own,” Mbesi said.
Premier Mchunu described the handing over of houses to the needy communities as a fitting tribute to former ANC President and the first African Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Inkosi Albert Luthuli.
He said the provincial government is deliberately spending billions of rands towards infrastructure development and constructing decent houses as part of efforts aimed at radically transforming the lives of people.
“We are here to advance the agenda of restoring the dignity of our people. This is a fitting tribute to Inkosi Albert Mvumbi Luthuli. He was at the forefront of the struggle against injustices. His activism earned him a bad reputation and he was eventually confined to Groutville by the apartheid government.
“As KZN, we have developed our own Provincial Growth Development which puts emphasis on ensuring a quality of life for our people. We can proclaim without any shadow of doubt that we still caring on with the implementation of the Vision of Inkosi Albert Luthuli,” Premier Mchunu said.
Premier Mchunu, who was accompanied by the MEC for Human Settlements, Ravi Pillay, and KwaDukuza Local Municipality Mayor, Ricardo Mthembu, visited the first project in Ward 9, an informal settlement upgrade with the most severe backlog.
Government has set aside R80 million for the construction of decent houses for about 100 beneficiaries.
The second project he visited was in Ward 11. An amount of more than R180 million have been budgeted for the project. The project is due for completion at the end of July 2015. – SAnews.gov.za
