/ 28 October 2002

Homes of their own

Sarah Mazwai and her family are counting the days to March: they will be moving into a new four-roomed house after living in informal settlements for the past 15 years.

Mazwai is the family’s sole breadwinner, earning R200 a month as a domestic worker.

She is part of a group of 219 residents in Tekwane, Mpumalanga, who are pooling their resources to build themselves houses. Vukuzenzele, as the scheme is known, operates along the lines of a stokvel. Members contribute R50 a month. The money is used to buy building materials and the members provide the labour for construction.

Housewife Ester Khoza, from Ka-Nyamazane near Nelspruit, launched the initiative in 1998 after she befriended a vegetable vendor and was appalled by her living conditions.

Khoza hit on the idea of finding enough people to pool their money and efforts so they could all afford homes. She approached people around the township, but many responded with scepticism. “They couldn’t believe that R50 could build a house.” However, she managed to round up a dedicated group. “We agreed that everyone has to continue contributing until every single house is built. If you skip a month, you’re out.”

The project was launched in 2000 and began building on land donated by the Mbombela municipality. The provincial Department of Housing promised to subsidise each house by R16 000, but this is yet to be seen.

“All they’ve done is criticise the houses we’ve built,” Khoza said. “They want us to build smaller houses, but we’re not prepared to do that.”

Vukuzenzele builds 67m2 houses, compared with the 50m2 homes built by the housing department. The extra space is at the heart of the stand-off between the project and the department.

Dan Langa, the housing department’s coordinator for the People’s Housing Process, says a subsidy of R16 000 a house was approved for the project. “We’re just waiting for the project to disclose how much money they have in the bank and how much each individual has paid. If individuals want bigger houses we need proof that they have money to contribute towards those houses.” — African Eye News Service