Angry Diamond Park residents in Greenpoint are demanding that an unfinished housing project be immediately completed.
DIAMOND Park residents in Greenpoint are demanding that an unfinished housing project be immediately completed.
Burning tyres and rocks were used to blockade Woodburne Street from around 7am on Monday morning during a service delivery protest.
Community member Tebogo Tsiloane said that 852 houses were supposed to be built, while only 400 have been completed.
“The houses leak through the walls and roof. There are plumbing problems and the walls are cracking. The quality of the houses is questionable,” said Tsiloane.
He added that only 27 houses have been handed over, while the contractor on site has changed three times since 2016.
“Up until today, the houses have not been completed yet. We were sent back and forth between Sol Plaatje Municipality and the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), but no one has been able to give us satisfactory answers,” said Tsiloane.
“We were told that the funds that were supposed to be used to finish the houses were diverted to another housing project. If that was the case, they can divert money from one of their other projects to finish the houses in Diamond Park.
“The houses must be completed or we will not vote in next year’s national government elections. We are over 2,000 voters and we want our own ward.”
Tsiolane stated that there was a beneficiary list and that stands had been allocated.
He added that Diamond Park continually experiences blocked drains.
“The pipes that were installed are thinner than the average pipes and do not have the capacity, which results in blocked and overflowing sewage drains.”
The head of the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Bafedile Lenkoe, who addressed the community on Monday, advised officials to verify the beneficiary list and title deeds.
