“A family took us in on a temporary basis while we waited for our shack to be erected, but they later kicked us out”
A SINGLE mother, Christal Bosman, feels helpless as the Sol Plaatje Municipality has not erected her shack on her promised plot of land in Porpoise Street, Homelite.
The mother of two says that she feels like a charity case as she had to squat at a house opposite her plot.
She accused the Sol Plaatje Municipality of not providing her with straight answers as to why her shack has not yet been erected.
She and her children are forced to move around Homelite, after she was relocated from Lerato Park, because her shack has not been built yet.
Bosman raised concerns that moving around has affected her children negatively.
“A family took us in on a temporary basis while we waited for our shack to be erected, but they later kicked us out,” said Bosman.
“The sad part is that we were at the hospital because my son was sick. On our return with the patient transport we found the doors locked and had to find another place to sleep.”
Bosman said she made a desperate plea to the community last month, asking for a decent place for her and her children to stay .
One of her children, 15-year-old Zonian Bosman, is physically disabled and attends school at Elizabeth Conradie Special School.
Her family had previously been allocated a shack and they moved to Lerato Park on the outskirts of the city.
The single mother then complained that her son was unable to go to school as he did not have a wheelchair and could not walk. She had to carry the child.
Members of the public came to her aid and someone also offered to assist in taking the child to school.
The Sol Plaatje Municipality yesterday acknowledged that there was a delay in erecting Bosman’s shack and said that it was due to a shortage of some of the building material.
According to the municipality, Bosman’s shack was previously erected on two occasions but had then been broken down both times.
The first time it was allegedly by members of the community who felt it unfair that Bosman and her family got special preference.
After erecting the shack a second time, it was broken down due to safety concerns.
The municipality urged Bosman to be patient as it was working on replacing some of the missing building material.
The municipality is also trying to get a proper fence for the family in order to keep them safe.
