A dream come true: pensioner Pasalina Jokazi in front of her two-bedroomed house as it is being built
Some 10 pensioners who have been living in leaky, cold shacks for years will be handed the keys to their own homes today.
PENSIONER Pasalina Jokazis dream to own a house will finally materialise when she is handed the keys to a new two-bedroomed house today.
A few days before, on a cool Wednesday morning, the 67-year-old grandmother of three tidied up her front yard while builders put the final touches to her new home, a 50m² house that dwarfs the humble shack she has called home for the past 16 years.
Jokazi is one of 10 pensioners in Doornkop, in Soweto who will benefit from the construction of 10 houses by the Citys housing department, under the People's Housing Process (PHP) programme.
The construction coincides with the departments housing week, which runs from 26 to 30 November, and the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, according to Busi Molefe, a project manager in the department.
This year as a department we decided to specifically look at the needs of pensioners without decent accommodation. We identified 10 elderly people living in Doornkop who have been on the housing list for a long time and, thanks to donors who chipped in with building materials, these people can celebrate Christmas in their new homes.
Popularly known as Snake Park, the township of Doornkop is composed mainly of shack dwellings interspersed with formal houses, products of efforts by local and provincial government housing departments to provide decent accommodation for residents.
Despite the help of 39 members of the community and some volunteers from the City of Johannesburg, the 10 houses were only at roof level on Wednesday, 28 November; Molefe lamented the bad weather which had caused building delays.
Building houses in Doornkop, Soweto
She said the 33 men and six women carpenters, bricklayers and plumbers had been working tirelessly since Monday to complete the houses. Because of the rain, however, the handover of the houses to beneficiaries, which was supposed to take place on Friday, would be delayed until Monday, 3 December.
No contractors had been involved in the building and funding for the project mainly came from the provincial government. Under a similar project in 2005, the department built 16 houses for abused women in one week in the township, Molefe said.
Besides the PHP programme, there are two other housing projects in Doornkop - the Doornkop Thulani Housing Project and Naledi Greenfield where more than 900 houses have been completed and approved. So far, the Citys housing department has built 1 500 units in the township.
After waiting for such a long time to get a house, Jokazi, who says she worked for 16 years in the Citys planning department before she retired some years ago, was ecstatic she would have a home today.
I cannot express how happy I am that finally, I and my three children, who still live with me, will be living in a house with a water tap and a flushing toilet inside.
Nearby, 76-year-old Emelia Madunas house was almost complete. Sitting outside her one-room shack next to her new house, she smiled broadly and was quick to thank the City for providing her with a big, new house.
I am old but I will never forget what the City has done for me for the rest of my life. I am very happy because its been a long time since I have been living in a shack that leaks and is very cold in winter, she said, waving at a shack that was almost falling apart with age.
The 10 new houses would be handed to the beneficiaries during a ceremony to be attended by top City housing officials, Molefe said.
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