Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla visited eight vulnerable households in Madlangemphisi Inkhundla on Thursday as part of efforts to respond to King Mswati III’s directive to provide proper housing for 10 needy families in the area.
The visit revealed grim living conditions among the selected households, many of whom are coping with disabilities, unemployment, and chronic illness. Families are living in makeshift shelters including tents, dilapidated stick-and-mud structures, or plank-built houses barely holding together.
Among those visited was 57-year-old Vusi Dlamini, who lost his leg and now shares a one-room tent with his wife, two children, and a grandchild. His wife Hlobsile earns a small income selling fatcakes. The family has been allocated a piece of land in hopes of a better home.
In another case, Jabulani Ncabaniso Siwela and his wife Vuyisile are struggling after a fire razed their one-room house in February. Jabulani, permanently injured by a hippo during a fishing trip, has been unable to work.
James and Thandi Gamedze, both elderly, now live in a tent after their house collapsed. With no children, they rely entirely on a government elderly grant.
Nandi Nyamane Mhlanga, who is disabled, lives in a stick-and-mud house with her four children. Her sister-in-law helps care for the children while Nandi survives on a disability grant.
Lungisani and Josephinah Myeni are raising four children and three grandchildren in aging structures and a tent. Both are unemployed.
At 72, Jindini Nkambule, along with his wife Siphiwe, shelters 10 family members in shacks pieced together from corrugated iron sheets.
Eighty-year-old Ntombemhlophe Masilela shares a one-room house with six great-grandchildren. The house once belonged to her grandchild, who died in 2011.
Cherry Lukhele, 60, lives in a crumbling plank house with holes in the walls. Hearing-impaired, she shares the space with two children and two grandchildren.
This follows an earlier assessment conducted on Monday, where 10 other families were also identified for urgent housing intervention. The National Disaster Management Agency is expected to begin construction on some of the homes as early as next week.
