KNYSNA NEWS - Courtesy of an investigation by the public protector into maladministration by Knysna Municipality, local pensioner Lydia Bosman is finally on course to receive a subsidised low-cost house, more than 10 years after a subsidy was approved to build the house.

The investigation into allegations of improper conduct, undue delay and maladministration by Knysna Municipality in failing to provide Lydia Bosman with a low-cost house was initiated when her son, Themba, lodged a complaint with the public protector on 15 May 2019.

According to Themba, he has been trying to resolve the matter for his mother for about a decade.

The battle for a house

"I've been fighting for this house on my mother's behalf for more than 10 years," he said, explaining that he has had to travel from Cape Town to Knysna to engage with the municipality on the matter. 

"I later felt like they were making a fool of me," he told KPH this week. ''I wasn't able to spend much time in Knysna as I resided in Cape Town, but when I moved back to Knysna in 2018, I began to pursue the case more aggressively in pursuit of justice for my mother."

The investigation continued for over two-and-a-half years and Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane released her report on the matter on 31 January this year, making a judgement in favour of the Bosmans.

Outcome of the report

"The allegation that the Municipality failed to provide the Complainant with a low-cost house after having approved it in terms of the relevant legal prescripts, is substantiated," Mkhwebane's findings read.

"The complainant [Bosman] had on several occasions engaged with the municipality requesting for assistance for her house to be constructed, to no avail. To date the complainant has been prejudiced as no house has been constructed in respect of the approved low-cost house. 

"The conduct of the municipality accordingly is improper... and constitutes maladministration and undue delay... It also prejudices the complainant."

Mkhwebane noted that the municipality conceded that Bosman had applied for a low-cost house and a subsidy was approved in respect of ERF 9890A on 26 March 2009.

Themba stated that he and his mother were grateful for the outcome. "We feel that justice has finally been served and that the correct outcome has occurred," he said.

Remedial action required

Mkhwebane's report also laid out various means of remedial action that the municipality must take. This includes a missive that Knysna Municipality's acting municipal manager at the time, Dawie Adonis, must provide a written apology to Bosman within 30 working days of the publishing of the report.

The deadline for the apology was on Monday 14 March, and according to Themba they did indeed receive a letter, but it was "unclear" and not signed off by Dawie Adonis, but by current Acting Municipal Manager Johan Jacobs.

Mkhwebane ordered that the municipality must provide Lydia Bosman with a low-cost house within 120 working days of the publishing of the report. This deadline is Tuesday 26 July.

According to Themba, other than a site visit, the family is not aware of any other steps the municipality has taken with regard to the house. 

In response to questions from KPH regarding the report and its findings, Knysna Municipality spokesperson Christopher Bezuidenhoudt stated, "Knysna Municipality is currently liaising with the public protector about the report. We cannot provide any further comment at this stage."

The plot thickens

Themba said there is even more to the story. "The plot which has been allocated to my mother, and on which the house must be built, was subdivided in 2009 without her consent, which means there are two houses that need to be built on the plot, and not just one," he said. 

"The municipality does not seem to grasp this fact, and it seems as though they are only going to build one house."

There's an added hitch as well, according to Themba. "The person to whom the second house was allocated has since passed away, and her children have provided no indication that they are interested in receiving it," he explained.

"I have therefore tried to get the municipality to transfer the house to one of the other two pensioners with whom my mother has been living in a shack on the plot. But this has not happened."

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