The probe into the illegal selling of RDP houses has deepened with the Endumeni Civic Association engaging lawyers in Durban to force the municipality to hand over documents as requested by the Department of Human Settlements.
Mzwakhe Sithebe, of the ECA, said although the Council had agreed to let Human Settlements conduct an investigation, the municipality had still not handed over documents.
“We need to know who were all the original applicants who applied for RDP houses, who was finally given a house and the reasons why applications were declined. There are at least 50 cases where homes, allocated to deserving applicants, have been illegally rented out. “Other cases have seen erf numbers swapped around so that people who think they have been given a house end up moving into the wrong house. There have been incidents where people have been given houses only to find people already living there. The whole thing is a mix up,” Mr Sithebe said.

Mr Sithebe said deserving people, who for years had been waiting for decent homes, were being denied their dignity by greedy people.
The municipality has been given 21 days to hand over the documentation. “This housing scam in Dundee is a test case for the province and the country. There have been similar incidents in other parts of the country but this is the first time there is to be a formal probe.”
Mr Sithebe said deserving people, who for years had been waiting for decent homes, were being denied their dignity by greedy people. “There was a case where one man, who had been given a house, demolished his shack and when he moved into this allocated RDP house found a family had already (illegally) rented it out. A shocking situation which must not be allowed to continue.” He concluded that the ECA ‘does not want to go out into the streets and burn things but would rather take the fight to the Constitutional Court if need be.’