SIBULELE MTONGANA & SUE MACLENNAN
More a month after their house was destroyed by an out-of-control truck, a family living in Joe Slovo, Nemato, is still homeless with rebuilding efforts at a standstill.
Around lunchtime one day in early January, a tipper truck crashed into Elvis Magadaza’s house, flattening part of the structure.
Magadaza told Talk of the Town that after the incident the truck owner had agreed to rebuild the damaged house. Magadaza said construction began and appeared to be progressing until about three weeks ago when, without explanation, builders had stopped reporting to the site. The truck owner had provided Magadaza with funds to cover temporary rental accommodation while repairs were under way.
However, with a month having passed and the house still unfinished, the rental funds have been exhausted. Magadaza, his wife and their two children are now without accommodation and have no income to secure alternative housing.
Magadaza also raised concerns about the quality of the rebuilding work, alleging that walls were uneven and that broken bricks had been used, making the structure unsafe.
Mfundo Kwani, of Mfuraa Construction confirmed that he had hired the truck to Mthetho Ndabeni, whose construction company, Amlo Trading, is currently contracted by Ndlambe Municipality to upgrade sewerage in Port Alfred.
Kwani said there had been an arrangement between him and Ndabeni that they would share the responsibility for restoring Magadaza’s house to its former state.
“I was supplying all the materials and Mthetho, because he has a construction team active in Port Alfred, would do the work,” Kwani said.
He admitted that the work had been paused because of financial constraints.
“Things weren’t going well businesswise in January,” Kwani told Talk of the Town in a telephone interview on Wednesday February 11. “At one point I didn’t have money. But now everything is up to date and as of 4 February, the last of the materials needed to rebuild that part of the house has been paid for and is ready to collect from [a building supplies store in Port Alfred].”
“We’ve done everything from our side and I expected that [Ndabeni] would expedite it.”
Responding to concerns about poor workmanship, he said he was unaware of these issues, adding that the construction company had been tasked with the repairs: he had only supplied building materials.
Ndabeni confirmed hiring the truck, but declined to comment further, stating that he had “nothing to do with the broken house”.
Meanwhile, the Magadaza family remains homeless.
The South African Police Service said a reckless and negligent driving case had been opened in connection with the incident.
“A 29-year-old man, driver of a sand delivery tipper truck, allegedly lost control, crashing into a house,” spokesperson Captain Marius McCarthy said.
The investigation was ongoing and the driver’s name had been withheld pending further investigation.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, February 12, 2026. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
