EThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo made an elderly woman’s wish of owning an electric wheelchair come true, when he visited the woman at her KwaMashu home today to personally deliver the gift.
Maureen Dlamini, 66, said she came across Nxumalo’s number on one of the local newspapers a few months ago and decided to contact him and request for an electric wheelchair.
“I was involved in a car accident many years ago and after that accident my knees were injured and I started having difficulty walking,” she explained.
Dlamini said it is not her many ailments that keep her confined to her house. Normally, she loves to go out, but not having an electric wheelchair has restricted her movement.
“I made the request on a whim. My phone call to the Mayor was a long shot. But here he is today. I will begin 2016 on a high note. I woke up at 5am today and my blood pressure has shot up because of the excitement,” she said.
Nxumalo said Dlamini had always been on his mind and recalled combing through stacks of notepads in search of her cellphone number.
“It took me months to finally find Dlamini’s number in one of my notepads. My office will send someone to come and show Dlamini how the electric wheelchair operates so that she will not struggle moving around if you are alone in the house,” said Nxumalo.
Meanwhile, Nxumalo today, 30/12/2015 visited the 101 families who spent their first Christmas in their news homes in Cornubia Phase 1B.
The families were relocated to Cornubia from Polokwane Transit Camp and Richmond Farm.
The R25 billion Cornubia Human Settlements Presidential Project is now in Phase 1B and will consist of 2186 units when complete. The first Phase which was Phase 1A consisted of 482 units which have already been occupied.
The families Nxumalo visited in Cornubia were excited that the Municipality has kept to its promise that they would celebrate Christmas and the start of the new year in their new homes.
Ntombekhaya Sithole, who is one of the beneficiaries of the new home in Cornubia said she never dreamt that one day she would live in a house with running water and electricity.
“I moved here with my brother and his family during the second week of December and it was lovely to spend Christmas in our new home,” she said.
Sithole said she was worried about the number of people living in the small flat and hoped her family members would also be allocated their own homes.
Siphelele Miya thanked the Mayor for staying true to his word.
“We were supposed to stay in the transit camp for only six months, six months turned into seven years. We had lost all hope until we were told to move these beautiful homes,” she said.
Miya asked that the Mayor not forget about their transport needs as well as the need for members of the community to find employment closer to the development.
Nxumalo noted all the concerns raised by the residents and said efforts would be made to address all pertinent issues.
He said the houses were fitted with plumbing and had running water but since contractors had closed for the December holiday all outstanding construction work would resume in the new year.
“The City’s Electricity Unit is also currently wiring all the homes. Soon all the residents will have electricity,” he said.
Mayor sympathised with the families that had to share limited space. He said this issue would be addressed soon.
“Our main priority is to find a suitable home for all the people currently living in transit camps. We cannot, at this time, allocate more than one home to one family. We ask that people remain patient, once we have allocated all other families proper homes in a safe and conducive environment, we will then address the issue of overcrowded homes,” he said.
Mayor sends condolences to the family of Professor Gumbi