Community
Heidedal’s Housing Question: Who Gets a Home When the Waiting List Never Seems to Move?
R1.2 billion spent on troubled Free State housing projects — while Heidedal residents ask when their long wait will finally end
By Bernell Simons | NovaSpeak: The Pink Print
The announcement of 40 new houses for families in Intabazwe, Harrismith, is undoubtedly good news for beneficiaries who have spent years living in ageing two-room structures with hazardous asbestos roofs. The project, announced by Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements Saki Mokoena, promises quality four-room homes and a more dignified standard of living, with Mokoena insisting that residents should not be forced to wait unnecessarily for the contractor’s full seven-month construction period.
He has also committed to returning to Intabazwe to monitor progress and oversee the eventual handover.
That is the kind of promise communities want to hear.
But in Heidedal, it raises a difficult question: when is it going to be Heidedal’s turn?
The issue is not whether Intabazwe deserves houses. It does. The question is whether Heidedal residents are receiving the same urgency when they too continue to raise concerns about housing and basic service delivery.
Residents have increasingly questioned why government service-delivery campaigns appear to focus heavily on poorer communities while established working-class areas such as Heidedal continue to experience housing frustrations of their own.
One resident recently questioned whether service delivery has effectively become something reserved for the “less fortunate”, asking why middle-class and working-class communities should not also receive attention when they struggle with basic needs. Another resident raised the uncomfortable perception that poorer communities often carry significant voting power, creating questions about whether service delivery becomes more visible when elections approach.
That sentiment should not simply be dismissed as political cynicism.
It should be interrogated.
Housing is not supposed to be an election-season favour. It is a government responsibility. And if government maintains a housing register intended to identify people requiring assistance, residents should be able to trust that the information on that register is accurate, current and fairly administered.
This is where the Heidedal questions become particularly uncomfortable.
How many Heidedal residents are currently registered for government housing assistance? How long have they been waiting? How many applications remain active? How many have been verified? How many applicants have already received housing elsewhere?
And then comes perhaps the most uncomfortable allegation raised by residents: are people who have died still appearing on housing waiting lists?
NovaSpeak has not independently verified that claim and will not present it as fact without access to the official register. But if residents are making the allegation, government should have no difficulty answering it.
A proper audit could establish exactly how many applicants remain active, whether their details have been verified, and whether deceased applicants or people whose circumstances have changed have been removed or appropriately updated.
That is not an unreasonable demand.
It is basic administration when people’s homes and futures are at stake.
The Heidedal question also cannot be separated from the wider housing crisis facing the Free State.
A major investigation published this week reported that R1.2 billion has been spent on three troubled Free State housing developments, with some projects still years from completion. The developments include Dark and Silver City in Bochabela, Bloemfontein, and G-Hostel in Thabong, Welkom.
The projects reportedly began in 2014 with a combined value of approximately R450 million.
Twelve years later, reported expenditure has risen to R1.2 billion.
The figures are difficult to comprehend.
At the Dark and Silver City bottom site, 118 flats have reportedly been completed after R427 million was spent, translating to an average expenditure of roughly R3.6 million per completed flat. The original planned cost was reportedly about R233,000 per unit.
At G-Hostel, more than R608 million has reportedly been spent — almost three times the original budget — while the project remains incomplete. Even more concerning, 270 completed units are reportedly standing empty because essential sewer and electricity infrastructure has not been provided.
These figures demand questions that go far beyond party politics.
Where did the money go? Who approved the contracts? Who monitored the projects? Why were contractors repeatedly replaced? Why did costs escalate? And who has been held accountable?
The Free State opposition has described the situation as an “ANC disaster”, arguing that failed housing delivery across the province represents billions wasted while residents continue to wait for dignified homes.
The political slogan is blunt: “BILLIONS WASTED. DIGNITY DENIED.”
But slogans alone are not enough.
If billions have been wasted, residents deserve to know where the money went. If projects failed, they deserve to know who was responsible. If contractors were paid but houses were not completed, they deserve to know why. And if officials failed to intervene, residents deserve to know whether anyone was held accountable.
According to the investigation, the Free State Human Settlements Department has confirmed that the Hawks are investigating matters linked to the three troubled projects, while disciplinary proceedings against officials are under way. An Auditor-General-related criminal case was also reportedly opened in 2023.
Those investigations must be allowed to take their course.
But investigations cannot become a substitute for delivery.
Communities need completed homes, functioning infrastructure and a housing system that works.
And that is precisely why Heidedal cannot be allowed to become invisible.
Government has previously identified Heidedal within its housing and human-settlement planning, while official provincial records have documented housing interventions in the area, including houses for elderly residents. The community therefore cannot simply be told that its housing needs are unknown.
The question is what has happened since then.
How many families remain in inadequate homes?
How many applicants have been waiting for five years, ten years or longer?
How many elderly residents remain in homes that no longer meet their needs?
How many families have grown while their housing applications have seemingly remained stuck in the same place?
And how many children have grown into adulthood in homes where their parents were already waiting for a government house?
These are not statistics.
They are families.
They are grandparents.
They are parents.
They are young people trying to build lives while living in conditions that may no longer be suitable for the size or needs of their households.
The Intabazwe project demonstrates that government can identify beneficiaries, appoint a contractor, establish a construction period and publicly commit itself to monitoring delivery. MEC Mokoena has promised quality houses, visible progress and accountability.
Heidedal residents are asking for exactly the same thing.
They want government to come into the community, sit with residents, explain the numbers and show them where Heidedal fits into the housing programme.
If there is no housing project currently planned for Heidedal, government should explain why.
If there is one planned, residents should be told when it is expected to start.
If people have been waiting for years, they should not have to discover their position through rumours, political campaigns or Facebook comments.
And if the waiting list is outdated, it must be cleaned up.
With the 2026 Local Government Elections approaching, the issue becomes even more important. Housing will inevitably become campaign material. Politicians will visit communities, stand next to construction sites, promise delivery and ask residents for their votes.
But Heidedal should ask every political party the same questions:
Where is your housing plan for Heidedal? How many houses will you deliver? How much will it cost? Where will they be built? Who qualifies? How will the waiting list be verified? How will deceased applicants be dealt with? How will politically connected beneficiaries be prevented from jumping the queue? What happens when contractors fail? And who will be held accountable?
The R1.2 billion housing saga shows what can happen when projects are allowed to drift for years.
A project starts as a promise, becomes a contract, encounters delays, changes contractors, consumes additional funding and eventually leaves communities with unfinished buildings and empty units.
Heidedal residents should not have to watch the same cycle unfold while they continue waiting.
The answer cannot simply be another campaign poster showing smiling politicians standing in front of newly constructed houses.
Heidedal needs the housing register opened to scrutiny. It needs accurate numbers, transparent prioritisation, realistic timelines and a clear explanation of what government intends to do.
Because while 40 families in Intabazwe are being promised a new beginning, families in Heidedal are asking a very simple question:
When do we get ours?
And after the Free State has reportedly spent R1.2 billion on housing projects that remain incomplete, that question deserves more than another political speech.
It deserves figures.
It deserves timelines.
It deserves transparency.
And above all, it deserves accountability.
Because for a family that has spent years waiting, another election promise is not a house.
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