Pretoria - The North West Department of Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison will in a week's time send a team of inspectors to the Ventersdorp Local Municipality to assess allegations of shoddy work done by contractors on RDP houses.
The houses are built in areas such as Boikhutsong, Boikhutso, Welgevonden, Goedgevoden and other nearby areas.
Speaking during the feedback meeting with communities from villages around the municipality, Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison MEC Nono Maloyi said a pre-assessment conducted on houses in certain villages proved that the homes were sub-standard.
“The good thing about these houses is that this project is enrolled with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and those houses are under guarantee. That means government will not be spending money to rectify such mistakes.
“After the assessment has been done, the contractors will have to come back on site and do rectification based on the finding of the assessment,” said Maloyi.
The MEC further made a plea to communities where dolomite was detected to cooperate with the department and be moved to neighbouring villages.
“We are going to conduct another geo-tech investigation in other neighbouring villages and identify where we can build houses for those living in the high risk area. That does not mean government is taking their land from them. They can still use the land for ploughing and as grazing field for their livestock,” said Maloyi.
The feedback meeting followed the recent meeting with the department and the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs and the affected communities after they barricaded the R30 road between Ventersdorp and Rustenburg with stones and burning tyres, protesting about a lack of service delivery and the quality of houses built in their villages. – SAnews.gov.za
