Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Ofentse Madzebatela MPL.
Residents of Matimba Heights Flats in Mamelodi East, Tshwane, continue to live in unsafe conditions due to poor workmanship. The rushed allocation of units to beneficiaries was done without a proper assessment of whether the project meets the required occupancy standards.
The windows at the flats are falling out, the roofs are leaking, and the water pipes are leaking, affecting the structural integrity of their homes.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng will table questions to both the MEC for Human Settlements, Tasneen Motara, and the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), to determine when a new contractor will be appointed to fix the shoddy workmanship at Matimba Heights Flats.
During a recent oversight inspection, residents told the DA Gauteng that they were hastily moved into the flats shortly before the 2021 elections, despite the shoddy workmanship. At the time, residents were promised that the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) would send contractors to resolve the existing issues with the flats.
See photos here, here, here, here and here.
In 2023, the DA initiated a process to assess defects at the housing development by appointing a contractor to identify the necessary repairs. After the DA was ousted, this process was halted by the ANC/ActionSA coalition; the contractor never returned to address the problems, and the residents were left to live in deteriorating housing conditions.
The DA Gauteng is committed to ensuring that residents across the province receive houses that allow them to live in dignified conditions. We will vet all contractors to ensure that they can complete the project on time and within budget. Incompetent contractors will have their services terminated immediately and be blacklisted from future government work.