Eastern Cape Pensioner Builds Her Own Home While R34 Million Government Project Remains Unfinished

A 67-year-old pensioner in the rural Eastern Cape did what the government could not. Nomondo Mboyi, from Ndakeni village in Mbizana, used her monthly SASSA old-age grant to buy building materials, manufacture mud bricks, and pay labourers to construct her own two-room home. Her story began in 2019, when severe storms destroyed the homes of hundreds of Mbizana residents.

Mboyi was among those left without a proper shelter. Four years later, in 2023, the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements awarded a R34-million contract to ZIBSIPRO (Pty) Ltd to build 200 housing units across 34 villages in the area, budgeted at roughly R170,000 per home. The structure meant for Mboyi remained an unfinished foundation with partially erected walls. Not a single home in the project has been completed. According to reports, the project ground to a halt in November 2024, caught in a dispute between the department and the contractor.

Provincial spokesperson Yanga Funani confirmed that ZIBSIPRO’s contract was terminated during the 2025/26 financial year due to poor performance, and that a new contractor would be appointed to take over the incomplete structures. ZIBSIPRO director Palesa Phara told a different story. She disputed the termination, alleging the department owed the company a full year’s worth of unpaid work. Phara pointed to over-engineered foundation designs, the geographic spread of sites across 34 villages, weather disruptions, and a change in payment terms from milestone-based to completion-only payments as the factors that crippled operations on the ground. With no official communication from local government and no sign of progress, Mboyi chose not to wait. She saved from her pension grant, sourced her own materials, and began building.

Her home is nearly done. Only exterior plastering remains, and she plans to move in by December. Eskom has indicated it cannot install electricity until the structure is fully waterproofed, meaning that final step stands between her and a connected home. The frustration in the community runs deep. Local residents had tried to take initiative themselves, reportedly attempting to complete some of the stalled structures on their own. Municipal officials rejected those efforts in February, leaving residents with no path forward from either direction. Mboyi’s self-built home stands as a quiet act of defiance in a community still waiting for answers.

https://briefly.co.za/people/family-relationships/256351-eastern-cape-pensioner-builds-home-r34m-government-project-sits-unfinished/

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