Disgruntled residents living in the municipal-owned Kingfisher Flats in Isipingo, outside Durban in KZN, are up in arms over the alleged corruption in allocating vacant flats to families in need of accommodation.

This comes after explosive allegations were made by residents that one of the new tenants allegedly paid R1500 00 in order to secure accommodation.

The residents further claim that proper procedures were not followed in allocating housing to the new tenants, who they claim are not from Ward 90.

They stated that when housing becomes available, first preference should be given to residents from the area.

Residents claim the issue started in early September when municipal officials allegedly placed a padlock on one of the resident’s doors, claiming that the flat was unoccupied.

The residents refuted those claims stating that the elderly tenant, who lived alone, would visit family from time to time and would be away for a few days or weeks.

There was reportedly also an attempt by municipal officials to forcefully evict another family, without notice. It is alleged that the municipal officials arrived with armed security guards and the situation became violent when the residents tried to intervene.

Ultimately, the residents managed to stop the family from being evicted. However, these residents claim that things have become worse since then.

According to Michelle Maistry (45), the main issue they have is people from other wards receiving housing while there are scores of people from Ward 90 who are still on the waiting list.

“On September 23, a family moved into the flat and after speaking to the new tenants, we found out they were from Umlazi, which is a different ward. The tenant told us that she was contacted by municipal officials who told her to pay R150 000 cash and they would organise a flat for her and she agreed. They told her there was no power in the flat and said if she pays another R13 500, they will connect the power for her. A week later, two other families were brought in from Umlazi. Another issue we have is that the councillor is always busy and doesn’t respond to our messages so who do we turn to for advice and pertinent issues if our councillor is not here for us?” asked a frustrated Maistry.

Former Ward 90 councillor Sunil Kalicharan said the residents’ grievances stemmed from the fact that there was an allocation to a flat because there was an exchange of money.

“It is alleged that there is bribery and corruption therefore the people are up in arms. It is not about who is occupying the flat, it’s about the manner in which the municipality conducted themselves. Having worked in the municipality for many years, I know the processes and policies regarding the allocation of council rented accommodation very well and they were not followed. There are also claims by residents that one of the officials gained entry into the electricity meter room and switched the lights on for the tenant. This is something that should be done by the electricity department once the debt has been paid. If you have a legal lease agreement this would not be happening, which confirms the allegation of money changing hands. If we don’t get answers on these allegations we’ll take this up with the deputy mayor so that those responsible for this corruption can be held accountable,” Kalicharan added.

Despite a community meeting held on September 25, Kalicharan claims they hadn’t yet received any feedback regarding the queries raised.

The KZN Human Settlements Department spokesperson, Mlungisi Khumalo, called on residents to open a case at their local police station if they believed that bribery had taken place in order to secure accommodation.

“As a department in our own right, we will conduct an investigation into these allegations so that the perpetrator is apprehended. We take such allegations seriously and urge people to refrain from bribing officials for services which are meant to be free in order to expedite the process. We call upon the individual involved to come forward so that we can ascertain all the facts so we can proceed with the investigation. We discourage and do not condone such acts because they go against our ethos,” Khumalo said.