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Phaswana explains his sorrow and misery after waiting for years for a promised house.

The house that never was ...

 

Tears of joy were shed after a poor and disabled man from Muhotoni outside Thohoyandou was told that a house was to be built for him. That was as far back as 2014.

Three years after the much-publicized house donation by a well-known senior traditional leader has borne no fruits, the family is still living under squalid conditions. The tears of joy have now turned into tears of sorrow.

During the official “sod-turning” ceremony, which took place in 2014 and was attended by officials from the Thulamela municipality and members of the community - where a tent was erected and guests catered for - senior traditional leader Mailausumbwa  Kennedy Tshivhase received a heap of praises for his “good deeds” by Cllr  Matodzi Netshifhefhe, a member of the Thulamela exco.

The traditional leader had promised the poor family of blind Albert Phaswana a four-roomed house. The aborted promise has put great strain on Phaswana, who is now staying alone because the house he is living in with his family is cracked and no longer safe.

At the sod-turning ceremony, Tshivhase said he was deeply touched after learning of the sad conditions the disabled man and his family of five were living under. He also promised a borehole for the poor family after the completion of the house, which was supposed to have taken only three weeks to build.

None of this has happened and the disabled man is more bitter about life than he was before the promise. Phaswana said he was heartbroken and had lost all faith in people who purported to be leaders. “I did not go about asking for donations, but people came to me and left me with false and high hopes of a house. I have waited for far too long and nothing has changed in my family. I am still staying in the dilapidated old structure and the worst is that I had to take my children away as there is no place to stay. I have waited for a long time for this false promise.”

Phaswana said he had to take the family to stay with relatives as the house could collapse at any given time. “I cannot withstand the pain of seeing my family suffer, I sent them away, so that if the house falls, I would be the only casualty and not my family,” he said.

Asked as to why the house had not been built for such a long time, Mailausumbwa Kennedy Tshivhase said the project had not gone as planned because of donors who had promised to help, but disappeared without fulfilling their promises. "The project is still on and we will start with the building in January. We are now sorted and nothing will stop me from building this poor man a house as promised," he said. 

Limpopo Mirror will follow the progress of the house and keep readers updated.

News - Date: 20 January 2017

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Photographed during the "official sod-turning ceremony," held at Phaswana's stand for a house that was never built.

All smiles ... a photograph taken during the sod-turning ceremony at Phaswana's place at Muhotoni.

 

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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