‘It is painful to wait for an RDP house my whole life’
A 78-year-old woman says she has spent three decades waiting for an RDP house while paying rent from her pension.
Concilia Chiliza from Thembisa in Ekurhuleni has been waiting in vain for 30 years for an RDP house, watching as others on the waiting list have moved into theirs, while she still stays in the same back room she rented years ago.
She thought then that would be temporary, but she didn’t realise she might spend the rest of her life there. She applied for the house when she was 49. Today she is 78.
Years of unanswered visits to housing offices after losing job
Chiliza said she started applying for a house in 1996, just two years after South Africa attained its freedom.
Her problems started when she lost her job and had to leave her employer’s house to find a place in the township.
She thought renting a backroom was a temporary measure – but little did she know she was going to spend the rest of her life there.
“Since then, I have been visiting the Alberton office to complain about my missing house. They were always telling me that my house had been approved and built, but they did not tell me the exact location,” she said.
“They advised me to apply again for the new house, but nothing happened until today.
“My children grew up and now they are staying with their spouses, but renting as well. I stay alone here and my son’s girlfriend comes to assist with house chores.
“My son is also renting a room here in the same yard. I use my pension fund to pay rent. The people that I applied for the house with are all house owners and they are surprised that I still don’t have a house. It is painful to wait for an RDP house my whole life and watch others moving into their homes.”
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‘As if they care’
Chiliza said she was disappointed by the government, especially the ANC, because she had been voting for the party since 1994.
She had lost hope in the party, she added, and appealed to any good Samaritans to help her find a house.
“The ANC has been the same since it took over the country. Since I am unable to walk, during the elections the party’s members come and give me a lift to the voting station and bring me back – as if they care.”
Chiliza says she she uses her pension money to pay rent. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
Living conditions worsen with age and illness
Chiliza, who is suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases, said she tried in vain to ask the housing authorities to investigate her case as they told her they did not know what happened to the allocation of her house.
When The Citizen arrived at Chiliza’s rented room, she was sitting on a couch watching TV. Inside the room was an old fridge and some old furniture.
She pointed to the fridge and said: “It is not working, I don’t have a fridge and my diabetes treatment is supposed to be kept in the fridge, but now I place it in a bucket.”
Calls for investigation into missing housing allocation
A community leader, Tebogo Masenya, said it was disappointing to hear that Chiliza has been waiting for the house for three decades.
In the meantime, they were trying to find ways to assist Chiliza, he said.
“If need be, we will also open a criminal case so that those who stole her house can be arrested and tell us where the house is.”
Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, DA Thembisa North constituency head, has called on the provincial government to urgently expedite the delivery of housing in the province and to also assist the struggling Chiliza.
Rasilingwane said residents of Gauteng were frustrated and tired of empty promises to address the housing waiting list.
“What they need are houses, delivered without further delay and excuses. Chiliza still resides in a tiny backroom that offers little comfort, dignity and security, despite having applied for housing in 1996, and being eligible to receive one.”
The City of Ekurhuleni did not respond to questions sent on Monday by the time of publication.
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