At a time when houses are a dream for many of our people, the dreams of a poor Limpopo woman came true when she received her first decent shelter - thanks to the department of Safety, Security and Liaison in Limpopo and the local Thulamela Municipality.

The RDP house with all the fittings was officially handed to her by the MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison, Samson Ratshivhanda, and the mayor of Thulamela, Khosi Vho Thivhulawi Makumbane, during a function held at her house at Tshivhulani-Ha Mphaphuli outside Thohoyandou last Thursday morning.

Norah Netshivhundini, a mother of four, never in her wildest dreams thought of ever owning a house and a decent one for that matter. She has been unemployed all her life. All this has changed; she is the proud owner of a fully furnished house and has full-time employment.

Limpopo’s police commissioner, Calvin Sengani, who facilitated the building of the house, said he was touched while passing a structure without a roof and a dilapidated shack all the time. “Here I witnessed poverty at its worst: a shack, surrounded by well-to-do houses, with no food for the family,” he said. “It naturally hit me that the owner deserved a decent shelter and I told myself that I had to do something about it,” he said.

Sengani said he approached the mayor of Thulamela, Khosi Vho Thivhulawi Makumbane, and sold the idea to him. “I was very thrilled when Makumbane promised that he would talk to the relevant department at his municipality, but it has been a long wait as it took almost two years to materialize,” he said. “Here we are today, celebrating the fruits of our democracy,” he said.

MEC Ndou said government was faced with a mammoth task of building houses for the poorest of the poor. He said a collective effort between departments of government, communities and business could help ease the burden the government was facing. Ndou said it was the government’s wish for all to have access to proper shelter, but the limited resources at their disposal made it difficult to reach their target. He said the country had lost many people who fought to bring about the new dispensation and houses were the fruits of the hard-earned democracy.

He urged the first-born son in the family to utilize the opportunity offered him, so that he could be educated and look after his siblings.

Khosi Makumbane said even though housing did not fall under the local municipality, they could not just sit and watch their people suffer without a roof over their heads. “We are a caring municipality which values its citizens and we will continue to assist wherever we can,” he said. Makumbane said freedom for his people in the municipality was about bringing service to them. He urged the family to look after the house.

Netshivhundini could not contain her excitement. “I thank God for having entered into the hearts of these people. They felt the pain I was feeling. The beautiful house has restored my dignity and I feel like a born-again woman today,” she said excitedly.

She said the function would clear the air as many had started spreading a rumour that she was selling herself to men in order to get money. “This is the man I am selling my body to; my man is this caring government that also recognizes the poor like myself,” she said.