Fraudsters without title deeds are collecting thousands of rands each month by renting out RDP homes to desperate tenants.
This was one of the findings made by provincial department of human settlements officials during a door-to-door visit in Masonwabe RDP settlement near Ngcobo yesterday.
Executing the department’s wrongful occupation programme, the officials also discovered most of the RDP houses in the area were home to illegal occupants who were not on the department’s database while other structures were occupied by “caretakers”.
More than 660 RDP houses have been built in the area since last April.
Some legal owners also rented out their homes, with tenants paying between R200 a house or up to R1000 a room in monthly rent.
Residents, who were deemed illegal occupants, refused to be interviewed by the Daily Dispatch.
Head of department Gaster Sharpley said the rampant corruption with RDP houses was common with “every single project” across the province.
Yesterday’s visit was aimed at ensuring the rightful occupants still lived in their houses and recommend to the Ngcobo local municipality what action should be taken against illegal occupants, those who are running businesses from RDP houses, or those who had to be re-registered because the original owner had died.
“There’s a range of complex issues we find in communities. Some of them are legitimate but some are tantamount to corruption.
“So we want to isolate people who have illegally sold houses or they don’t own the houses.”
Sharpley said government no longer owned the house once a title deed was handed over but he encouraged beneficiaries whose houses were stolen to open criminal charges.
Government was concerned about people who sold their houses for a pittance and then became destitute.
“The problem is communities sell the houses as though they are selling a loaf of bread, usually because of debt or an immediate problem.
“If someone doesn’t want the house, they can sell it back to government and then we will give it to the next beneficiary,” said Sharpley.
The RDP houses in Masonwabe have two bedrooms, a bathroom and an open-plan kitchen.
Resident Similo Ndukwana, 76, complained his house had a leaking roof and its walls were falling apart.
He pleaded for a new house.
“As you can see, the house is in tatters.
“We complain to the local municipality but that falls on deaf ears,” said Ndukwana.
All the RDP houses in Masonwabe were found with structural defects and are currently being rectified. — loyisom@dispatch.co.za
Fraudsters cash in on RDP houses
This was one of the findings made by provincial department of human settlements officials during a door-to-door visit in Masonwabe RDP settlement near Ngcobo yesterday.
Executing the department’s wrongful occupation programme, the officials also discovered most of the RDP houses in the area were home to illegal occupants who were not on the department’s database while other structures were occupied by “caretakers”.
More than 660 RDP houses have been built in the area since last April.
Some legal owners also rented out their homes, with tenants paying between R200 a house or up to R1000 a room in monthly rent.
Residents, who were deemed illegal occupants, refused to be interviewed by the Daily Dispatch.
Head of department Gaster Sharpley said the rampant corruption with RDP houses was common with “every single project” across the province.
Yesterday’s visit was aimed at ensuring the rightful occupants still lived in their houses and recommend to the Ngcobo local municipality what action should be taken against illegal occupants, those who are running businesses from RDP houses, or those who had to be re-registered because the original owner had died.
“There’s a range of complex issues we find in communities. Some of them are legitimate but some are tantamount to corruption.
“So we want to isolate people who have illegally sold houses or they don’t own the houses.”
Sharpley said government no longer owned the house once a title deed was handed over but he encouraged beneficiaries whose houses were stolen to open criminal charges.
Government was concerned about people who sold their houses for a pittance and then became destitute.
“The problem is communities sell the houses as though they are selling a loaf of bread, usually because of debt or an immediate problem.
“If someone doesn’t want the house, they can sell it back to government and then we will give it to the next beneficiary,” said Sharpley.
The RDP houses in Masonwabe have two bedrooms, a bathroom and an open-plan kitchen.
Resident Similo Ndukwana, 76, complained his house had a leaking roof and its walls were falling apart.
He pleaded for a new house.
“As you can see, the house is in tatters.
“We complain to the local municipality but that falls on deaf ears,” said Ndukwana.
All the RDP houses in Masonwabe were found with structural defects and are currently being rectified. — loyisom@dispatch.co.za
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