A FRAIL senior resident from Beacon Valley in Mitchells Plain fears that her home is going to cave in with the heavy winter rains after exhausting all options to get the City of Cape Town to fix the council home.
Chronic patient Cecilia Kloppers, 74, who is wheelchair bound due to arthritis, says that for more than two years she has been trying to get her council house fixed as the walls are cracked on the inside and outside causing the cold wind to seep through the cracks.
She says that due to these cracks in the walls her health has deteriorated.
Cecilia explained: “Ek sukkel met die plek. The council doesn’t want to fix the place and I don’t know what to do anymore. The walls are cracked and it is going to give in. My bedroom walls are also cracked and it feels like a freezer because it is so cold due to these cracks. The sun shines through from the outside, that is how bad it is.
“We have contacted so many people including the council to come out and fix this place, people from the council have come to take pictures but they don’t come back to fix the place. I pay insurance every month to the council and I am a pensioner. This is a council house so it is their responsibility to fix the house.
“The cracks started on the outside but my biggest concern is that we live next to a field and they shoot gevaarlik this side of Beacon Valley especially on this field.
“I can’t live like this, I am a chronic patient and constantly in pain, my health is not getting any better so I can’t physically go to all these place to look for help but my children have been sending emails, phoning all over including the councilor but ons kry nie help nie.”
Cecilia said that on Saturday during the early morning hours she heard bricks falling and said the matter is getting worse.
When Daily Voice reached out to the City of Cape Town questioning why there had been a delay and if they are aware of the complaint, our questions went unanswered.
However, spokesperson from the City of Cape Town Luthando Tyhalibongo said they will appoint a structural engineer to assess the damage but cannot give a time frame as to when the place will be fixed.
Tyhalibongo explained: “The City will appoint a structural engineer to assess the extent of the damage and advise on repairs required. The assessment and repairs will be at the City’s costs.
“At this stage we are unable to advise on timelines as the matter is subject to various internal procurement/contract management processes, procedures and budget availability.”
Stepping in and going the extra mile to assist the family is PR Councillor Rochelle Minnaar from the National Coloured Congress deployed to the City of Cape Town who said: “We cannot accept that the city is saying they are unable to advise on timelines. “They [the family] have the right to live in safe conditions, not being misinformed or unfairly treated. We no longer need threads of emails, we need action.”