New Age2.png Joy as military veteran gets house Ntombi Nkosi, The New Age, Johannesburg, 16 December 2015 The government plans to rollout mega human settlements to provide housing for the masses of people. Gauteng MEC for human settlements Jacob Mamabolo was speaking at the handover of a house to military veteran Thokozile Margaret "Mapistolo" Rala, 59, in Lawley south of Johannesburg yesterday. "I was staying in a leaking shack, when it rained I would have to choose a corner that was not leaking. I am humbled to be recognised while I am still alive. Many people did not get this opportunity in their life time," Rala said. She said she was happy with her home as she was expecting the house but It had surpassed her expectations because it was fully furnished. Jacob Mamabolo.jpg Rala said she went to exile when she was 17 years old and was trained in Angola, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho and Bulgaria. "When I come back to South Africa, life was very different and difficult, I had nothing. I had to fend for myself to survive, I thank this government," Rala said. Rala's plight was highlighted by the Umkhonto we Sizwe legacy project and with the help of the government and a number of sponsors they were able to build her a house. "Rala waited for 15 years before getting her house. We urge our communities to give the government time. We will soon be rolling out mega human settlement projects," Mamabolo said. He said the department was also strengthening its system to make sure there was no corruption when houses were allocated. "We do not want unscrupulous people to jump the queue and get the houses, we are working hard in our fight against corruption." Mamabolo said giving Rala a house was part of improving the lives of those who played a role in the liberation of the country. Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Kebby Maphatsoe said the handover was a way to recognise former freedom fighters, especially women, who sacrificed their youth for the struggle. Maphatsoe warned criminals not to target Rala's new home as they would face the full might of the law. He said the department had set aside money for more military veterans to receive houses around the country and would work closely with other government departments to achieve that. Maphatsoe said his department was also educating veteran's children. [email protected] From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/DRIVE/main%20edition/16122015/epaperpdf/3.pdf -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
