A bitter war of words has erupted between the communities of Hasani, Mbhalati and Mdavula and the Road Agency Limpopo.

The centre of the dispute is cracked houses which the community claims were damaged during the construction of a tarred road between Vuwani and Malamulele.

Road Agency Limpopo has recently completed a multi-million rand road project which is a short link between Elim and Malamulele. The project was hailed as one of the best by the local communities who benefited because they were employed there. It was viewed as development by the community because their area could be accessed easily.

Overshadowing the good that the road brought is an outcry from certain community members whose houses cracked during the construction. They claim their houses cracked because of the blasting of rocks and the government is refusing to compensate them.

Mr Reckson Chauke (43) of Hasani-Mbhalati, whose house was cracked from the outside and inside, says he feels hard done by because he cannot afford to fix the house, as he is not working. Chauke, a father of five, only relies on a state grant for a living and to feed his family. He said he now dreads to venture into the house because the house can just fall over any time. Chauke said he felt let down because he thought the government would do something for them. "I am also struggling to take my children to school. Where do you think I will get the money to fix or build another house? This is our government, it should look after us." Chauke said he would be very happy if the government compensated them.

Ms Flora Mashele, who also resides nearby, shares the same sentiments. "My husband struggled for many years to build this house, only for it to be destroyed in a short time. I don’t know what to do," she said. Mashele said her husband had passed away and she was the only breadwinner at home. She said she only depended on selling soft goods and the little she got was not enough for the family. Mashele said she would be happy if the government could have a feeling for them and help them out of their problem.

Headman Mbhazima Ngobeni, who serves under Hosi Mdavula, said they received more than 10 complaints from residents and they tried to voice them with the department. He said the department shifted all the blame to the owners of the buildings, saying that they were not properly built. Ngobeni said it surprised them because before the road was constructed no cracks were reported but immediately after the construction there was this damage.

He said when the project was started, all were excited thinking of the prospects of employment. Ngobeni said he was very disappointed because his subjects were left with falling houses after the completion of the road. He said he was very worried because almost all the complainants were not working and would not be able to repair the houses themselves. He said the other thing that was worrying him was the fact that government refuses to take responsibility. He said the only solution to their problem would be the government to compensate them or build houses for them. "We are going to have a meeting on Thursday that will include all affected villages and we will take it from there", he said.

The CEO of Road Agency Limpopo, Mr Bohani Shivambu, said the department was not aware of the new problem because he thought it had been resolved amicably. He said after the problem came to their attention, they immediately sent their engineer to make an assessment and found that the cracks were in no way connected to the construction of the road. He said the community was not happy about the outcome of the probe and his department cooperated with the community and, with their help, appointed an independent assessor to deal with their problem.

Shivambu said they made an agreement with the community that the results from the independent assessor would be binding. If the department was at fault, they will compensate the community and if it is found that residents are at fault, they will fix their own houses. He said tests were done on the buildings and it was found that the owners were to blame for the cracks. He said the community has a copy of the binding report.