… Public Protector steps in as Bluegumbosch beneficiaries get houses after decades of empty promises
By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – For 26 years, Elizabeth Moeketsi lived like a nomad — knocking on doors, renting rooms, begging officials for answers about a house she was promised in 1999.
On Wednesday, she finally got her keys.
Moeketsi, 55, was among seven Bluegumbosch beneficiaries who received new RDP houses and title deeds during a handover led by Free State MEC for Human Settlements, Saki Mokoena, on 7 October 2026.
“I registered for a house in 1999 but my house didn’t come out amongst the first cohort. I have since been sent from pillar to post,” Moeketsi said.
“They kept telling me my house number is out, but I had no house.”
For 26 years, she said, she lived ‘like a grasshopper’ — moving from house to house.
Breakthrough only came after the Department of Human Settlements referred her to the Public Protector.
“Since then, my case has been handled with care,” she said.
The intervention forced the department to account for beneficiaries who were allocated stands on paper, but left homeless in reality. Seven such houses have now been built.
Another beneficiary, 51-year old Elizabeth Ncala, said she received a title deed in 2000 — but no house.
“I am happy because today God has heard my cries. I will no longer hear knocks on my door telling me to move every three or four months,” Ncala said.
“This is the house I am going to die in. My forever home.”
For 56-year old Benjamin Mofokeng, the handover ended more than 20 years of waiting.
“This is a blessed day because finally, after waiting for more than 20 years, I have a home,” he said.
But for Moeketsi, the victory is bittersweet. Her mother and her children died while she was still waiting.
She will sleep in her new house alone.
Wednesday’s handover closed a painful chapter for seven families, but it also laid bare a bigger failure — how long it takes government to correct its own mistakes.
With local elections just weeks away, the Bluegumbosch handover is more than a ribbon-cutting. It is a reminder that for some, justice took 26 years to come home.
