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Johannesburg - With winter on the horizon, the six-year delay in the completion of RDP houses in the community of Olievenhoutbosch remains a matter that cannot be allowed to continue any further.
This was according to the DA’s Mervyn Cirota following his oversight visit to the community yesterday to follow up on progress in the construction of 468 RDP houses in Olievenhoutbosch’s Extension 60.
Cirota, accompanied by the DA spokesperson on human settlements, Evert du Plessis, and the Tshwane MMC for human settlements, Ofentse Madzebatela, said the purpose of the visit was to assess the progress of building 1 200 social houses in Townlands and to establish when the houses would be completed.
He said since the inception of the Olievenhoutbosch project, which forms part of the Townlands Social Project in 2020, a total of 468 RDP houses have remained incomplete.
In addition, the area was not yet formalised, as Cirota explained that there were reportedly several delays in building houses, roads and the bulk water system.
Even though residents had electricity installed, he said, several works on the project were suspended in August 2022 due to a Section 116 review because the contractor had incurred additional costs.
According to the MEC, although they were pleased that the City of Tshwane had approved R23 million to allow funds to be released for bulk infrastructure, particularly water, to be installed in the next eight to 12 months, the matter had long been delayed.
“We’re told the delays were due to the Covid pandemic, but this project has been delayed for five to six years, and the residents have been living here in half-finished projects without sanitation or water.
“There seems to be progress, but we will continue to monitor step by step to ensure that things do get done and there are no further hold-ups from the city or the provincial government.
“It seems none of the houses are finished completely, and they are in fact at different stages overall.
“Some of them are at 90% completion, while others are at 70%. It’s unfortunate that people are living in such conditions, and we need to accelerate this, as people shouldn’t be expected to live in such conditions,” he said.
Cirota said with winter looming, the lack of hot water was difficult, and as leaders, they needed to avoid a situation where people were suffering needlessly. “When projects are unfinished, we’ve got thousands of people waiting for these projects living in squalor because the wrong contractors have been appointed and there has not been any accountability.”
The Star