The 2 bedroom house that was handed to Zothe family in Khayelitsha
It was like a dream come true for the Khayelitsha family (whose lives were shattered after their 6 year old daughter was raped and a shack that they were living in was rammed by car after a high speed police) when they were official handed over a 2 bedroom house was official handed on 07 September 2007. The ceremony in which various stakeholders were present took place in Litha Park Township in Khayelitsha.
Addressing the people present during the handover, MEC for Local Government and Housing Mr. Qubudile Richard Dyantyi said the province has 400 000 housing backlog. Dyantyi said historical landscape of South Africa had also contributed to this challenge. "We have a number of challenges including capacity and shortage of land to build houses," the MEC, said. The MEC said they are using creative measures to fight the backlog. "There is no better demonstration of good investigative journalism than what we see here today. this had brought dignity to Zothe family he said".
Mr. Ngconde Balfour, Minister of Correctional Services Department said it was inspiring to witness National, Provincial Government and private sector partnering together. "I stand as a proudly South African because my country is full of possibilites," Ngconde said. He concluded by saying when people dream together everything becomes a reality.
Talking on behalf of the Public Broadcaster, Mr. Snuki Zikalala, Head of News, South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) said as the public broadcaster they are striving to achieve journalism that brings hope to the nation. "Whatever we do we have to change people's lives," Zikalala said.
Accepting the keys for her new home, mama Zothe, the beneficiary expressed joy of receiving the house. She went on saying the shack she used to occupy was very bad for a blind person like her.
The plight of the Zothe family was covered by SABC news earlier in July. The public broadcaster also engaged with other government departments such as Correctional Services, Provincial Government Western Cape to partake in the initiative of relocating the family to a new home. Corporates such as ABSA Bank M5 Builders and Alsa Magwebu, and other sponsors made a contribution in the initiative of relocating the family to their new home.
