Beneficiaries petition Habitat for loan reprieve

In the petition, the residents plead poverty as the reason for their inability to repay the loans. The total outstanding for all three communities is P1.8 million. Their special advisor, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, says when the housing scheme was introduced, the people enrolled with the understanding that the programme was meant for the poorest of the poor.

The residents say they did not understand the full implications of using the cement index system of repayment of their loans and that they could never have anticipated the exponential price increases for cement propelled by the construction boom associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.