There is still no plan to rectify the defects, just more promises.
A housing rectification project in Braelyn Extension 10 in Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) has left residents frustrated with the municipality’s failure to address severe structural faults.
Serious defects in the RD houses include cracked walls and roofs, leaking roofs, and inadequate foundations. Braelyn residents say they have repeatedly complained to the municipality, which has promised to rebuild the houses since 2004, but has taken no action until today, except for a laydown yard constructed by the sitting, ANC ward councillor, Mendi Wetsetse.
The stalled housing project intersects with service-delivery defects across the ward, including unpaved and potholed roads, poor refuse collection, and electricity shortages brought about by the growing Inkandla informal settlement.
Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of extensive corruption and maladministration of major BCM tenders.
According to Braelyn residents, talks about rectifying Braelyn Ext 10 RDP houses began before 2010. The then ward councillor, Thabo Myira, who served as a councillor between 2005 and 2010, confirmed the claim.
Media reports also indicate that in 2009, the then minister of human settlements, Tokyo Sexwale promised people living in faulty RDP houses in East London that their houses would be rebuilt. Today, councillor Wetsetse, who is campaigning for a third term in the upcoming local government election, promised to rectify the situation.
Housing defects
Ntombizanele Mabala, an 80-year-old pensioner, said since residents arrived in Braelyn in 1997, they have complained to councillors and the municipality about the poor condition of their houses, but their pleas were ignored. “These are not houses but hokkies. We have children and a family of six. Rain comes in from every direction – through the roof, the walls and underneath – because these houses have no foundations,” she said. “The councillor promised that the housing rectification process would begin before 4 November, but there are still no signs of work apart from a laydown-yard fence erected two years ago.”
Another pensioner, Nothembile Mqhayi, whose house was built below ground level, said her house floods when it rains. She showed Elitsha a hole she had made at the bottom of a wall to let water that entered the house drain out.
Ziyanda Mpakantsho (42), who recently joined an EPWP project and earns R3,000 a month, said rectification is urgently needed because she lives with a sick and disabled person. “I grew up hearing that the cracks in the walls would be repaired, but many years have passed. These Braelyn houses have no proper foundations, so water leaks in when it rains. The houses have not been rectified because the money is being squandered,” she said.
Zama Thutha (70) said the government had not fixed the RDP houses because it was corrupt and unaccountable to voters. “Even the EPWP jobs created recently will end after the elections. Our system of government is capitalism, which puts profit before the needs of ordinary people,” he said.
Recurring delays and more promises
Responses from both the BCM and the Eastern Cape department of human settlements (DHS) are not only conflicting but also suggest the rectification process remains a false hope for Braelyn residents. When asked whether the municipality or its ward councillor has made any promises of rectification, the municipality said the provincial government is responsible for the rectification process.
“The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality wishes to clarify that it does not currently run a municipal housing rectification programme; this falls outside local government funding allocations. What we can say is that the laydown yard established on-site remains a site-securing measure for future development once capital is allocated.”
The provincial DHS said that, despite the constitutional principle of cooperative governance that compels the various spheres of government to share information and support each other, implementation requires compliance with the necessary technical, administrative, planning, and budgetary processes. The department has not denied the fact that rectification has been recognised for several years.
“The programme, which focuses on the rectification of existing two-room RDP houses, was prioritised following engagements involving the current ward councillor and the executive mayor of BCMM,” said Yanga Funani, the DHS spokesperson.
“In the current financial year, Braelyn, Ducats and Dimbaza have been identified among the priority areas for rectification,” said Funani. “The project is currently at an advanced preparatory stage, with implementation targeted to commence in November 2026, subject to the completion of outstanding administrative and implementation requirements,” he added.
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