Caster gets a new house

2009-08-29 14:31

Johannesburg - The Limpopo government and a property developer will give 800m gold medallist Caster Semenya and her family a house in recognition of her achievement, the province's housing department announced on Saturday.

"The Limpopo MEC for local government and housing Ntate Soviet Lekganyane is pleased to announce that his department in partnership with Bitline Property Developers will build a brand new home for the family of 800m Track World Champion Mokgadi Caster Semenya," a statement said.

This was in recognition of her win at the recent world championships in Berlin, which ended for Semenya with a gold, but the added controversy of having her gender verified.

Many have rallied around her rejecting the call for the verification, with some suggesting the motivation for the testing is racist.
"The people of Limpopo are very proud of Caster Semenya's achievements.

"As we congratulate and celebrate with her, our mandate as a department dictates that we must ensure that she and her family are properly housed," the statement continued.

Spokesperson Clayson Monyela said the construction of the house would be paid for completely by Bitline with the provincial government finding sponsors for the finishes and helping with project managers.

Monyela said they had visited the family and felt they needed another house.

It would be built in Masehlong, where Semenya hails from.

Referring to fellow gold-medallist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Monyela said they had also been to his home and felt that the family had proper shelter.

- SAPA