GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HOUSES THE VULNERABLE

By Teddy Gomba

• Coinciding with the country’s 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, 25 houses in Randfontein were handed over to survivors of gender-based violence, persons with disabilities, and child-headed households.
• One of the recipients, 39-year-old Lebohang Monyatsi, who uses a wheelchair, described receiving her new home as a “Christmas present”.
• The houses form part of the Dan Tloome mega housing development project.

Twenty-five houses in Dan Tloome, Randfontein, have been handed over to survivors of gender-based violence, persons with disabilities, and child-headed households by the Gauteng Provincial Government.

The handover of the houses, part of the Dan Tloome mega housing development project, took place on Thursday, 4 December 2025, coinciding with the country’s observance of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, and just a day after the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, marking the start of Disability Month.

Handing over the houses, MEC for human settlements Tasneem Motara said: “We made a deliberate decision: survivors of gender-based violence and people living with disabilities must be prioritised for safe, secure housing.”

Thirty-nine-year-old Lebohang Monyatsi, who uses a wheelchair, was among the beneficiaries.

Before receiving her new home, she lived at the Golden Gates Foundation, a shelter for people with disabilities in Randfontein, where she had stayed for more than five years.

Originally from the North West, Monyatsi moved to Gauteng after securing a job contract.

When the contract ended, she found herself without accommodation and was referred to the shelter supporting homeless people with disabilities. Three years ago, while staying at the shelter, she applied for a house and considers herself fortunate to have been approved.

She expressed gratitude to the government for what she described as a “Christmas present”, saying she plans to invite her family for lunch on Christmas Day to mark the official opening of her new home.

Monyatsi said she is happy to finally have a place of her own and thanked the government for providing food parcels to help beneficiaries start their new lives.

Her message to others still waiting for assistance is one of patience: “There are many of us who need help. No one’s problem is bigger than another’s, and the government is doing its best to help everyone.”