The promised housing corruption probe by the Department of Human Settlements has had another unintended consequence.
Those who rented out the newly-built RDP houses have been pressurised into suddenly vacating the homes by those who, it turned out, illegally rented out these houses. The houses were meant for those who have never owned a home and whose income is below a Government-legislated threshold.
However, Mzwakhe Sithebe of the Endumeni Civic Association, said they had received numerous complaints from deserving people who had applied for houses but whose requests were either ignored or they were allocated a house but never given the erf number.

“This is when we realised something fishy was going on. Those houses, whose real owners had not been given a site number, were simply rented out by unscrupulous people who were there to allocate homes to those who have been waiting for years for the house they deserve.”

Last week, the Council accepted a request by the Human Settlements Department to probe the housing allocation system in both Sibongile and Sithembile.
“Those who rented these houses – for around R1500 to R2500 a month – are now being forced onto the streets. The culprits want to nullify their unjust deeds before the forensic probe ties a noose around their necks.
“We urge the forensic team to start investigating as soon as they can. We have to agree to impose a moratorium on any evictions ordered by these wicked people.

The matter is currently in the hands of the provincial risk assessment team.

“We are in possession of names of people who have been ordered to evacuate the houses they occupy,” Mr Sithebe told the Courier.
The Endumeni Civic Association presented the cases of people whose homes had been hijacked to representatives from the provincial Department of Human Settlements.
One such resident is Zama Masimula, who paid rent of R1 200 a month for an RDP house in Sibongile extension 19 for several months to a housing committee member, as he was ‘desperate for a place to live’.
In the affidavit, Mr Masimula said he stopped paying the illegal rent in April and moved out, after reporting the matter to the municipality with the assistance of Mr Sithebe. The matter is currently in the hands of the provincial risk assessment team.