Legal advice sought on shoddy NU29 houses

The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements is seeking legal advice on how to proceed with the case of shoddily built duplex houses in Motherwell’s NU29. The department is also looking to hire another team of engineers to assess the houses to be able to decide on the way forward. This was revealed by Human Settlements MEC Helen Sauls-August last night in an interview with The Herald deputy editor Nwabisa Makunga on the department’s Ikhaya News Channel. The incomplete Motherwell housing project has been idle for nearly three years as the budget was depleted and there were concerns the homes had become structurally unsound. Some residents were, however, moved into the completed homes despite safety concerns about whether or not they were structurally sound. The human settlements intervention team sent to the Bay by former minister Lindiwe Sisulu hired engineers to do the initial assessment. The team found that many of the houses did not meet the required standards and that they were a safety hazard to the beneficiaries. Last year, a man died when one of the structures collapsed on him, while the body of a 14-year-old girl was found in one of the structures. The incidents outraged the community, which once again demanded that the structures be demolished.

Sauls-August said the man died while stealing from the incomplete structures and it was not one of the completed homes that had collapsed. She claimed her department had made several attempts to contact the municipality to discuss the matter. “We have written to the municipality to say that you were the developer, you approved the plans, you need to rectify the situation if you belive that something went wrong,” she said. Sauls-August said the National Home Builders Registration Council also needed to answer as to how the completed homes were even approved. She said the project was troublesome as the blame game had been going on for about a year. “Something very simple must be done. There has been no response to date from the municipality.” She reiterated statements from her budget vote speech last week on how the department planned to manage housing beneficiary lists. “Thirty-five municipalities have said they don’t have the technical capacity to deal with beneficiaries. We are saying this is an administrative process and must be treated as such.” Bay human settlements portfolio head Nqaba Bhanga said allegations that the metro had been written to were not true. “I have not received her [letters] – maybe it is still on its way from Bhisho,” Bhanga said.