Pensioner gets her house after government admits mistake

Maleroele Molato, a 75-year-old widow from Naledi Village in the Free State, has finally received her long-awaited brick-and-mortar house.

GroundUp reported in April that Molato was living in a dilapidated mud hut. She had applied for a government house ten years ago, but the system showed she had already been allocated one five years earlier. It appears her name was incorrectly linked to a house in Gauteng.

Her mud hut was badly damaged during heavy rainfall in April. After queries from GroundUp, the Free State Department of Human Settlements promised to rectify the situation and provide Molato with a house.

Her new house was handed over to her on Saturday. “God has finally answered my prayers. I have never been so happy in my old age. I feel like jumping around. If I were still a teenager, I could have jumped around with joy, but I am old now,” Molato said.

“Now I will sleep peacefully in a proper house without fearing that the house may collapse.”

A cow was slaughtered in the celebration attended by dozens of community members.

“I want to thank those who opened our eyes to her situation,” said Human Settlements MEC Saki Mokoena during the handover.

“After we looked at the situation, we realised the situation was bad and we decided to appoint the contractor and requested him to build the house within three weeks. Today, we are here to hand over the house and to celebrate with her. The mud house is gone, and the new house is here with a bath and a toilet inside.”

He said that there are plans to build another 136 houses in the area to replace the mud huts, which cannot withstand the impact of climate change.

This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.