<\/p>\n
When the government told Nomondo Mboyi, 67, three years ago that they would build her a new house after hers was destroyed in a storm, she didn\u2019t bother waiting. She started building her own house, using mud bricks she made herself and using her old-age grant to buy materials and pay for labour. Since then, the government project has stalled.<\/p>\n
Mboyi\u2019s was one of hundreds of households which lost their homes during heavy winds and rain in the Mbizana region of the rural Eastern Cape in 2019. She lost two mud houses. A third house, built from sticks and mud, was left with a leaking roof and holes in its walls.<\/p>\n
In 2023, the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements appointed ZIBSIPRO (Pty) Ltd to replace the storm-damaged houses with 200 houses across the region for about R34-million \u2013 about R170 000 per house. But not one of the houses has been completed.<\/p>\n
The brick-and-mortar house the government is building for Mboyi only has a foundation and partially completed walls. This is the case at most of the houses under construction in Mboyi\u2019s village, Ndakeni.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the contractor came here last year to start the foundation, I was already starting the walls of my two-room house. I used my social grant to buy materials and pay for labour. But the process was not quick because I had to spend months saving enough money before I could continue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her new mud house just needs plastering outside and some final touch-ups before she moves in in December. She said Eskom cannot install electricity because the house is not waterproof.<\/p>\n
Read:
Sassa: Long queues, broken toilets and no service after lunchtime
Sassa: Pensioners complain to minister about deductions from their grants<\/p>\n
Mboyi said that, during a meeting with the Winnie Madikela-Mandela Local Municipality in February this year, residents offered to finish building the houses themselves, but were told to wait. \u201cSince then, there has been no further explanation. We are just waiting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Community leader Nontokozo Nyombo said many of the beneficiaries, who mostly rely on social grants, were in desperate need of housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are very frustrated, and the sad thing is that we don\u2019t know who to turn to. Our municipality no longer gives us answers on the matter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Residents said the contractor left in November last year, promising to return, but had not done so. There is still some construction machinery in the village, watched over by a security guard.<\/p>\n
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Department spokesperson Yanga Funani said ZIBSIPRO\u2019s contract was terminated during the 2025\/26 financial year because of poor performance.<\/p>\n
He said the department planned to reinstate the project. Houses where construction had already started would be prioritised, and those not yet started would be dependent on funding availability.<\/p>\n
Dispute over contract termination and unpaid work<\/p>\n
But ZIBSIPRO director Palesa Phara said she was not aware the contract had been terminated. She claimed that non-payment by the department had made it financially impossible to continue.<\/p>\n
However, she acknowledged that the department sent the company a letter of default and that the company tried to cede the work to a subcontractor, which the department verbally rejected.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I know is that the department has owed us payment for a year, which is why I stopped working with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Phara said the company was appointed in September 2023, but only received a formal contract towards the end of November, shortly before the annual construction shutdown.<\/p>\n
Work could not start immediately, she said. Geotechnical investigations, soil assessments and approval processes delayed construction further. The approved foundation design was also \u201cheavily over-engineered\u201d and the company hired another engineer to redesign it.<\/p>\n
Read: 280 000 Sassa beneficiaries still need new Postbank cards<\/p>\n
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Conditional approvals from the National Home Builders Registration Council were also required before work could proceed.<\/p>\n
She said construction effectively began around October 2024, more than a year after the company was appointed. She also said working across 34 villages created logistical challenges, while heavy rain disrupted construction.<\/p>\n
Payment changes put contractor under \u2018financial pressure\u2019<\/p>\n
Phara also alleged that the company was verbally instructed to \u201cslow down\u201d because the department did not have sufficient funds available.<\/p>\n
Also, the payment arrangements changed from paying at each building stage (milestones) to paying only when a unit was finished, she said.<\/p>\n
This placed financial pressure on the company, which had to keep buying materials and paying workers without receiving corresponding payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, site operations became unsafe. Certain labourers, local workers, security personnel and community stakeholders effectively prevented further access to the site until outstanding [labour] disputes and payments were resolved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome company equipment and infrastructure remain on site to this day, continuing to generate storage and security costs while also remaining inaccessible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Funani did not respond to Phara\u2019s allegations. The municipality did not respond to our questions, referring us to the department.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published\u00a0here.<\/p>\n
#Sassa #pensioner #builds #house #faster #government<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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