ETHEKWINI mayor Mxolisi Kaunda presents former shack dweller Nelisiwe Dlamini with the key to her home yesterday. BONGANI MBATHA African News Agency (ANA) ETHEKWINI mayor Mxolisi Kaunda presents former shack dweller Nelisiwe Dlamini with the key to her home yesterday. BONGANI MBATHA African News Agency (ANA)
Durban - TEARS rolled down the cheeks of a widow who believed she did not deserve a new house.
Nelisiwe Dlamini, 60, of Inanda, had lived in a shack for more than 15 years until someone who grew up in the same area decided to build a house for her.
Dlamini, a mother of two and grandmother of six, said her shack was a death trap.
It was always leaking and she was afraid the electricity box could blow any day, especially during bad weather.
Today, Dlamini sleeps in her own spacious room and she has a veranda, something she had never had before.
“I didn’t believe I could live like this, when I’m nothing. I was even afraid to sit on the veranda, afraid of what people will say because I’m poor,” Dlamini said.
On Monday eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, originally from Inanda, held a ceremony to hand over the house to Dlamini, although she had moved into the home earlier.
“She was living in poor conditions and we said to her that she was not alone and we were here for her,” Kaunda said.
During the official handover, the mayor also gave 60 families food parcels and a nearby shelter was given 40 food parcels.
Earlier Kaunda had gone to Intshisekelo Secondary School, which he had attended as a child, to see
what could be done to renovate the building, which was in a state of disrepair.
Kaunda also visited the families of those who were killed during recent heavy rains to offer assistance with rebuilding homes.