Marikana houses should be given to rightful beneficiaries not cadres
14 January 2015
Today I conducted a follow-up oversight visit to the Marikana Housing Development Project, after the Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, handed over houses to community members in Marikana as part of the ANC’s 104th Year celebration.
Since the handover, it has been reported that violent protest has ensued in the area by residents who allege that the beneficiary list was not compiled in a transparent manner, and that the recipients of the houses are not miners. Protesters also assert that some of the recipients are not even from the area. The land was donated by Lonmin Platinum Mining Company to its employees following the 2012 massacre and thus these houses should have been for these employees and mineworkers.
As such I will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Nocawe Mafu, to request that she summon Minister Sisulu along with the North West MEC, Wendy Nelson (Acting), to table the inter-ministerial task team’s report on progress in Marikana. I will also write to the Premier of the North West, Supra Mahumapelo, to ensure that the Rustenburg Local Municipality, who made the allocations, publish the beneficiary list, as well as make public their housing allocation process.
This has become necessary because the situation has escalated considerably that public order police had to be called in to get the situation under control; however, the atmosphere is still very tense.
In April last year I conducted an oversight tour of Marikana’s informal settlements and hostels where I witnessed what may be called an assault to human dignity in Marikana’s informal settlements and mining hostels. After speaking to the residents, it was clear that they were losing their patience and faith in the promises that were made to them.
They shared with me their daily struggles and the poor condition of many dorms, which were still to be converted to family units as promised by the Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu. This was to ensure that mine workers and their families were assisted with decent housing.
At that point, there were some improvements in the form of temporary toilets however, delivery was slow and sections of Marikana were still without clean and drinkable water, proper roads and streets free from sewerage.
We want to assess the promises made that were not delivered in terms of the Special Presidential Package for Distressed Mining Communities. Marikana cannot be in a constant state of tension and synonymous with unrest; we want the situation to return to normal and the rightful beneficiaries access the housing that has been duly owed to them.
The DA will continue to do everything possible to hold the Executive to account and to ensure the residents and mineworkers of Marikana receive the quality basic services and dignified human settlements they were promised and so rightly deserve.
Statement issued by Makashule Gana MP, DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements, 14 January 2016
