Driftsands resident Matsiritso Siyunda has turned her house – and her life – upside down in an effort to deal with water seeping through the floor of her home.
This has been the case for more than a year now, with the water seepage affecting her bedroom and kitchen.
Out of desperation she turned her lounge into a bedroom, but this has made life difficult for the family.
Ms Siyunda said when she initially noticed the water, it was winter and she thought it had been coming in under the door and simply mopped it up.
She later realised it was seeping up from under her floor tiles. She said she does not know the extent of damage the water may have caused to the house’s foundation and fears it may start developing cracks in the walls.
Ms Siyunda said her husband is not working as he suffered injury at work and so she is her family’s sole breadwinner.
“This is honestly stressing me out. We never had this issue before and it only started last year,“ she said.
“I can’t see the end of it because we don’t know how it started. I dont want to lose my house over this thing and I will never be able to buy a new house.”
Driftsands Development Forum chairperson, Mluleki Zotsho said he was shocked when he learnt about the condition of Ms Siyunda’s home – so he decided to try to get help for her and her family.
Department of Human Settlement spokesperson, Muneera Allie, said Ms Siyunda had received her home in 2000. The department, she said, was not aware of the challenges experienced by Ms Siyunda since this had not been reported to them.
Noting that the house had been handed over more than 20 years ago, she said, there would have been a period shortly after the handover to deal with any building snags. “The department will, however, investigate the matter to ascertain the reason for the water seeping from the ground, and liaise directly with Ms Siyunda regarding the way forward,” she said.
