The Matimba Flats in Extension 5 Mamelodi East
Disgruntled residents of Matimba Walk Up Flats in Extension 5 Mamelodi East are still waiting for a response from the City of Tshwane Municipality Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya regarding the fixing of structural defects in their homes.
The aggrieved residents told Tshwane Talks that they have been trying for many years now to get the City of Tshwane to redress the said defects without any success.
The last time the residents engaged the City of Tshwane Municipality was when concerned resident Champion Phiri personally hand-delivered a petition to the Mayor’s office on 21 October 2024.
A follow-up letter to the Mayor was written on 10 March 2025 and on both occasions there hasn’t been any response from the City of Tshwane and the Mayor.
The latest letter addressed to Mayor Moya partly reads as follows:
“We are writing this letter to follow up on the service delivery memo/ petition dated 21 October 2024 because we have not received a response from you yet, and we understand that you are likely busy and may need time to review our memo/ petition.”
The letter further reads that the Matimba Walk Up Flats residents ask for the matter of their shoddily-constructed flats be given immediate priority.
“Your responsive action to other matters of concern in the City of Tshwane thus far makes us certain that you will give equal weight to our complaint, and Madam Mayor, please provide leadership in this regard and in doing so you would be establishing an important legacy your mayoralty instead of merely being yet another incumbent Mayor as has been the case with your other political predecessors and our trust is that you would want to be remembered differently,” read the letter in conclusion.
According to concerned resident Champion Phiri, the structural defects referred to in the petition entail:
1. Windows that don’t close properly.
2.Rooftiles that fly away under windy weather conditions.
3. Lack of handrails on the sides of the stairs cases.
4. Water in ground floor toilets which looks like it is boiling whenever residents flush their toilets.
“We live with elderly people who have chronic illnesses and the conditions we are living in here at Matimba Flats exacerbate their already fragile state of health,” said Phiri.
Concerned Matimba Flats residents Sello Maseko ( left) and Champion Phiri ( right)
“These structural defects will get worse if they are not fixed now, they are a disaster that is waiting to happen,” he lamented.
“We appreciate the government’s efforts to house us but this must not be done in an indecent manner,” emphasised Phiri.
He pointed out that regulatory authorities like the National Homebuilders Regulatory Council (NHBRC) as well as private engineers have indicated that shoddy workmanship is prevalent in the way the flats were constructed and that the flats are uninhabitable.
Phiri and his fellow resident Sello Maseko both raised concern about the parameter fence of the Matimba Flats complex that has literally fallen to the ground, thus leaving the Matimba Flats residents insecured against potential invasion by criminals.
The two men also pointed out that the ground on which cables have been installed is very soft; that it would soon cave in and be eroded and be openly exposed, thus making it easy for cable thieves to steal it and plunge the Matimba Flats into long periods of darkness and lack of electricity.
“The City of Tshwane as well as the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements are aware that construction at the Matimba Flats is only 80% complete; that there is still work that needs to be done regarding the 20% workload that is still outstanding and that R13 million would be needed to repair structural defects at the flats,” explained Phiri.
“Politicians always make empty promises, we fear that there might be a disaster at the Matimba Flats with buildings falling apart due to the structural defects and residents here don’t have money to fix the aforesaid structural damages on their own,” said Phiri as he in the process pointed out that fixing only one window costs a resident about R300 while fixing the rooftops costs even much more than this.
“When the incumbent Mayor Moya took office she claimed that she would be people-centred, now we request her to live up to her promises by fixing the Matimba Flats,” enthused Phiri.
He pointed out that the campaign to get Matimba Flats fixed started a long time ago when Randall Williams was the Mayor of the City of Tshwane.
The Matimba Flats, which are a block of RDP housing units freely provided to the residents by the government, have been mired in controversy since their establishment.
After construction of the flats was completed around 2019, some of the homeless local residents illegally occupied the flats after realising that they were vacant and had not been allotted to any beneficiaries.
The illegal occupants claimed at the time that they were also on the Municipality’s housing waiting list and that they deserved to be allotted the said housing units.
After illegally occupying the housing units for six months or so and defying requests by the Tshwane Municipality for them to vacate the Matimba Flats, the illegal occupants were finally removed from the flats while kicking abd screams by the infamous Red Ants, which is a company that specialises in forced removals and evictions.
This was way back in February 2020 and the present rightful occupants of the Matimba Flats inherited serious damages in their homes caused by the erstwhile illegal occupants.