A Hazendal man is upset that the City of Cape Town still hasn’t fixed his roof after tiles blew off in a storm last month.
Jaftha Paulse says after the tiles came off his state-subsidised home on Wednesday July 22, ward councillor Rashid Adams told him the City’s disaster risk management team would come out, but they did not, and now when it rains everything gets wet.
He and his wife, Magdeline, moved into the two-storey, two-bedroom house in the Hazendal housing project four years ago after a handover by then City mayor, Patricia de Lille. The project was funded through the provincial housing subsidy and the City appointed the contractor.
Although it’s been several years since the couple moved into their home, Mr Paulse claimed the City was responsible for repairs because the house hadn’t been transferred into the couple’s name.
“Besides the roof tiles, we also have leaking whenever it rains. We are feeling very frustrated here because no one is helping us. I have spoken to the City about when the houses will be transferred into residents’ names, and they said that because of the lockdown there is a backlog and it could take up to five years.”
Mr Adams said he was waiting to hear from the City when it would send out an inspector.
Owners of subsidised houses could usually only report faults within the first three months of occupation and the roofs had a one-year guarantee, he said.
“We are checking to see if a complaint has been logged before because the houses were handed over four years ago. We will also see if a previous request was put in and if a contractor was sent out. Many tenants say that they are not aware that the City will not cover repairs after three months, but this is explained to them in the beginning. The owners of the houses must see to their own repairs,” he said.
Malusi Booi, mayoral committee member for human settlements, said the City had been halfway through handing over the title deeds to the properties when the Covid-19 lockdown had started.
The deeds office had since been repeatedly opened and closed and there was a large backlog, he said.
“The City will investigate this matter. There is a three-month maintenance period after the houses have been handed over by the City, and all outstanding snags are handled within this period,” he said.
“Outstanding snags will only be attended to if residents report them to the contractor’s office and the community liaison officer. Once all snags on the houses have been attended to and signed off by the contractor, the City and the Western Cape government, a final unit report is issued by the National Home Builder’s Registration Council on completion of the house, following which the beneficiaries will be responsible for the house maintenance.”