For Emily Marema, the dream of ever owning a house had almost faded. She applied for an RDP house four years ago, but luck was not on her side as she always received promises that hers was to follow.

Her dream became a reality recently, when Pres Jacob Zuma officially handed over the keys to the new three-roomed house at Balanganani-Davhana outside Vuwani. She was one of the beneficiaries of a R40 million project, where more than 250 units of housing were built, which would see more than 3 000 people properly housed.

For the unemployed former farm worker Marema (52), who is also looking after her two grandchildren, life has not been a bed of roses. She said she had sat the whole night in times of rain when her dilapidated huts would be flooded. “We sometimes had to cramp into a one-roomed mud hut with my four children when it rained, and this made life very uncomfortable for us,” she said

Marema said she was praying that a miracle would happen and that she would find herself with a house which she could call home. “I am very excited. I do not even have words to express my gratitude to the president and his team, who made it possible for people like us who are poor to own a house,” she said.

“God does not forget his children. He will forever to be on the side of the disadvantaged. I almost lost hope that I would ever own a house in my lifetime. Thank you, my government, the government of the people,” she said.

Pres Zuma said his government was committed to providing the rural communities with decent housing.

The local traditional leader, Khosi Vho Lugisani Davhana, said he was excited that government was delivering on its election promises.

“We are here to make a plea to our president not to forget us in the multi-billion rand development programme. We would like to have a share as we are one of the poorest communities in the country,” he said. He later handed over a community wish-list to the President, who promised to look at it.

Meanwhile, Limpopo Department of Local government and housing MEC Soviet Lekganyane said his department had drawn up a plan to recoup more than R21million the department is owed from poorly built RDP houses. This is after money was paid to unscrupulous developers and contractors who vanished before completing their projects.