More love needed in this Corner

KNYSNA NEWS - Love Corner fire victims who received houses in White Location in January this year are complaining about the state of their new houses. The new homeowners claim that with less than six months in their new houses, they have experienced many challenges.

One of the residents, Phumeza Mdumeni, said they moved into their new houses in January, but the homes already look as if they have been built ten years ago.

"This is all because of poor workmanship. It's raining into our houses and the roofs are falling apart. We have to paint every time as the rain gets inside the house through the wall," she said.

Another resident, Nombulelo Hlininika, said there was a man who came to paint the houses but he only came with 20 litres of paint and left the job without finishing.

"The houses were not plastered and that is the reason why the rain gets inside the houses. The roof is falling, plumbing is poor and there are leaks in the toilets and pipes. The roof leaks and our ceilings have stains," she said.

She said after an inspection by the municipality and the Western Cape Department of Housing last week, nothing has changed.

"These houses were not properly built and that is not right. The contractor used too little cement to build and the plumbing is poor," she said.

A Love Corner resident uses a container to catch up water leaking from the toilet. Photo: Tembile Sgqolana

Municipal spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt said they are aware of the complaints raised by Love Corner residents.

"We have since been engaging with the complainants. A site inspection was carried out last week by the Western Cape Department of Housing, Knysna Municipality, project managers, imple-menting agents and building inspectors - to assess the extent of the complaints," he said.

Bezuidenhoudt said based on the inspection, there are no structural damages and there are only minor issues. These are all being attended to by the implementing agent.

"Prior to house handovers, the municipality conducts consumer training. This includes information on homeownership, reporting of defects, time-frames etc. New homeowners are requested to inform the municipality timeously of any issues," he said.

The owner of this house had to fix the shoddy work done by the contractor. Photos: Tembile Sgqolana