LIBODE/NGQELENI- For 239 vulnerable families in Nyandeni, life in unsafe mud structures is becoming a thing of the past after they were handed the keys to newly built homes.
Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements MEC Siphokazi Lusithi handed over the houses on Monday, 17 August as part of the Nyandeni Destitute 370 Human Settlements Project.
The project is aimed at providing decent homes to vulnerable households while accelerating efforts to eradicate unsafe mud structures across the province.
The houses are being delivered across 28 wards in Nyandeni Local Municipality, covering communities in Libode and Ngqeleni.
Lusithi said the handover was particularly significant because it formed part of the department’s Women’s Month programme, with many elderly women supporting large families among the beneficiaries.
“As the Department of Human Settlements in Nyandeni Local Municipality, this is part of our Women’s Month project. We came to deliver 239 houses of the Nyandeni 370 project,” she said.
MEC also added that some of the beneficiaries were elderly women who had become the main providers for their families.
“This particular programme is profound because it is part of commemorating Women’s Month. We have elderly women who are anchors for 12 dependents. We are here to deliver houses amongst others,” Lusithi said.
Furthermore, the project represents a government investment of more than R17 Million and has also created opportunities for people and businesses in the local community.
According to Lusithi, 68 local labourers benefited from the project, while eight opportunities were created for small, medium and micro enterprises to work as subcontractors.
“This is one way that, as the department, we seek to ensure that through infrastructure delivery, communities are transformed. It is not only about the provisioning of housing, but also about uplifting the immediate community,” she said.
Among those receiving a new home was 60-year-old Nosakhe Buzani, who had been living in a mud structure with her 12 dependents.Her previous home had been affected by disaster and flooded during rainy weather.
“This new house has given us a new life. Our house collapsed and the second one was also affected by disaster and would flood during rainy days. Those days are now over. I am truly grateful,” Buzani said.
In addition MEC Lusithi said government remained committed to restoring dignity to vulnerable households through the provision of safer and sustainable human settlements.
“As a government of the people, we are committed to ensuring that we bring back the dignity of our people through the provision of safer, sustainable human settlements,” she said.
The department said it would continue prioritising households living in vulnerable conditions and unsafe structures as it works towards creating safer communities across the Eastern Cape.
Photographs: EC Human Settlements
Sthabile Sambela
19 August 2026
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