Opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow Minister of Human Settlements Makashule Gana conducted a follow-up oversight visit at the Marikana Housing Development Project on January 14 to inspect and assess what local platinum miners are calling maladministration of the housing allocation.

Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu handed over houses to Marikana community members earlier in the month as part of the African National Congress’s 104th birthday celebration.

However, since the handover, it has been reported that violent protests have ensued in the area involving residents who allege that the beneficiary list was not compiled in a transparent manner, and that some of the recipients of the houses are not miners. Protesters also assert that some of the recipients are not even from the area.

The land was donated by mining major Lonmin Platinum to its employees following the 2012 Marikana mine massacre, in which 34 miners were shot and killed. The complainants, therefore, reason that these houses should have been for mineworkers.

Gana says he will write to Human Settlements portfolio committee chairperson Nocawe Mafu to request that she summon Sisulu, along with acting North West MEC Wendy Nelson to table the inter-Ministerial task team’s report on progress at Marikana.

“I will also write to the Premier of the North West, Supra Mahumapelo, to ensure that the Rustenburg local municipality, which made the allocations, publish the beneficiary list, as well as make public their housing allocation process,” he adds.

Gana says urgent action is required because the situation has escalated considerably. Public order police had to be called in to get the situation under control; however, he notes the atmosphere is still tense.

In April, 2015, Gana conducted an oversight tour of Marikana’s informal settlements and hostels, where he witnessed what he describes as an “assault to human dignity”.

After speaking to the residents, Gana says it was clear that the mineworkers were losing their patience and faith in the promises that were made to them. The residents shared with him their daily struggles and the poor condition of many dormitories, which still needed to be converted into family units, as promised by Sisulu.

He says these converted dormitories were supposed to ensure that mineworkers and their families had decent housing. “At that point, there were some improvements in the form of temporary toilets, but delivery was slow and sections of Marikana were still without clean drinkable water, proper roads and sewage-free streets.”

The DA wants to assess the promises made that were not delivered in terms of the Special Presidential Package for Distressed Mining Communities,” explains Gana. “We want the situation to return to normal and for the rightful beneficiaries to access the housing that is duly owed to them.”

The DA will continue to do every-thing possible, he says, to hold the executive to account.