24 Feb 2013

The sorry state of the two families of Ms Mellica Cloete and Ms Tshetsana Gabaikhe of Lokgwabe in the Kgalagadi District may certainly be history; thanks to the growing support of the Presidential Housing Appeal.

A delighted 75-year-old Ms Gabaikhe , a member of one of the blessed families, could not stop expressing her gratitude to the President and the government for their efforts to eradicate poverty.

The visually impaired mother of four said she shared a one-roomed and dilapidated house with her son and three grandchildren. “Some of my three children have long deserted me because I could not provide for them,” she said in an interview.

She expressed hope that the new house would lead to her three deserted children coming back for a family reunion.

After living in dreadful conditions and somehow surviving the chilly winters of the Kgalagadi desert all their lives, the two families said they were looking forward for a decent and dignified existence that the new houses would provide.

“Abject poverty is the order of the day in Lokgwabe and the reasons include unemployment, shortage of basic resources such as water and decent shelter.” Village Development Committee chairperson, Mr Daniel Mokgare said.

Mr Mokgare said the Cloetes and Gabaikhes would not be the last families in need to receive such an intervention. “Currently the VDC has a long list of potential beneficiaries, all anxious for their turn to be helped,” Mr Mokgare said.

“The two families were probably the worst cases because they lived in make-shift shelters made out of reeds, they also used old blankets,” said the VDC chair, adding that other members of the two families depended on relatives for shelter and food.

With the private sector and some sections of society receiving infinite praises for being compassionate, just, and caring, the housing initiative, would progress well.

Aimed at providing shelter and restoring dignity to the needy members of society, the Presidential Housing Appeal initiative did not only benefit the needy, but also those employed to build such houses.

Hukuntsi Sub-district senior assistant council secretary, Mr Joseph Kgabanyane said 40 destitute houses would be built in the area through both the housing appeal and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Preference, he said, would be given to settlement dwellers.

Mr Kgabanyane said they were faced with many challenges during the construction of the houses in question, among them, shortage of water, transport, skilled labour, and costly building materials in Kgalagadi.

“Sometimes we have to use the only truck available to bowse water from distant sources to construction sites at various settlements,” he said, adding that the Hukuntsi Sub-district had so far handed over 18 houses to various deserving beneficiaries. ENDS