The Democratic Alliance in Mpumalanga has called on the ruling ANC to take blame for the demolished shelters and homes in Msholozi near White River.
The houses were demolished on Tuesday 31 July 2018 as their occupants are accused of illegally occupying private land said to belong to the Matsafeni Trust, according to the DA.
The party has furthermore stated that the people, whose 18 structures comprising shacks and brick houses were demolished, have been illegally staying on the land for over three years with the knowledge of local municipality and provincial government, which together did nothing to help the occupants with alternative settlement.
The ANC-led government must take the blame for this as thousands of people in Mpumalanga have been on the waiting list of housing for years without any direction from the Human Settlements Department and their respective municipalities.
The figures cited by the party puts housing backlog in Mpumalanga at 197 156 ‘with little indication to speed up housing delivery in the province’.
According to the 2016/2017 Annual Report of the Department, they have spent their entire budget that financial year under MEC Speedy Mashilo, but only created 12 593 housing opportunities which include 9281 serviced sites and only 3672 housing units.
The party has appealed to the residents to stop occupying and building houses illegally in private or municipal land, it has also called on the provincial government to find alternative accommodation for people whose houses were demolished.