A homeless man could not curb his excitement at the end of last year when he was promised his own RDP house. Instead of a low-cost house, however, he received a pit toilet.

Mr Robert Khamanyani (58) from Mdavula village outside Malamulele in Limpopo says he has struggled to get an RDP house like other needy people. He used to stay in a mud hut, but this collapsed in 2007 and he was left homeless. Following some promises, con-struction teams arrived in the area. “When I asked the brick-layers (about my home) they told me that they were ordered to build only a toilet, because that is what I deserve,” says Mr Khamanyani. “A toilet is a place where you can relieve yourself, but it has now been three months since I have started using the toilet as bedroom, kitchen and bathroom,” he says.

Khamanyani says that inside the toilet he is facing challenges like mosquitoes, no light, a lack of space to move around and he must sleep “like a rabbit”. He also indicated that he is not safe because two weeks ago he killed a dangerous snake.

Nevertheless, his parents are still alive and staying in Malamulele location, but no one seems to be taking care of him. Khamanyani revealed that his sister and brother are educators, but they don´t care about his plight. "Someone told me that I´m not suitable to get an RDP house, because I´m a single man without children,” he says. “I think it is better to die rather than to live like this," Khamanyani says.

A good Samaritan, Mrs Doreen Makumbane, says that she is helping this homeless man with food, because sometimes he assists with piece jobs around her yard. "God says give people what you have rather than throw away food," she says.

A community leader, Mr Tinyiko Simon Mathebula, says that it is true Khamanyani has no RDP house and accommodation. Mathebula says that the problems started in 2007, when Mr Khamanyani’s mud hut collapsed due to the heavy rain and he became homeless. "We built a pit toilet without an RDP house, because it was part of a sanitation programme whereby toilets were built for needy people. We are still waiting for the allocation of low-cost houses, but we are happy because the Edzani Consultant Sanitation project has pledged to build a two-roomed house for Khamanyani,” he says.