For years, Nophikazi Rose Willaims had been living as a backyarder in Harare, yearning for a proper home.
And the 69-year-old mother-of-four’s dream of getting out her shack became a reality last Monday when she was handed the keys to her RDP home by the ward councillor Anele Gabuza.
She was among 14 senior citizens who were given houses.
An excited Ms Williams said for years she had been watching the RDP house being built and given to recipients. And at some point, she said, she had given up on the idea that she might one day be one of them.
She said some people she knew of had died while waiting for their houses and so she felt lucky that God had kept her alive to see her own house and live in it.
She said being a pensioner she had no way of financing her own house and was thankful to the government for enabling her to become a homeowner.
“It is not comfortable to live in a shack. When it rains water comes inside and sometimes I fear that the shack might collapse,” she said.
“The conditions that I was living under were compromising my health but I’m glad that I will now live in a comfortable and decent house.
‘’I have no words to describe how I feel about this,” she said.
Mr Gabuza said as the ward councillor he has a duty to advocate for development and change in his area.
He said he had made it clear that he wanted this project to be completed within the stipulated time frame and that the right people benefited.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that we bring services to people. I’m glad that these senior citizens were able to receive their houses while they are still alive. Our objective is to make a difference in people’s lives through service delivery,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Agness Mpiyane, said she had been on the housing list for 25 years and she was over the moon that she had finally received the house.
Looking back, she said, she never imagined that the day would come that she would have a decent place to live and not have to worry about whether her home would protect her from the rain and cold weather.
