Tenants say they are tired of evictions

eMBALENHLE – Tsalanang residents are afraid the Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council is going to evict them from the flats.

The Tsalanang flats have been handed over by Sasol in 1992 to accommodate low income earners.

Mr Mziwakhe Ntshalintshali, spokesman for the Tsalanang tenants, said they used to only pay a flat rate.

He further said that when they paid the municipality directly, the property was always clean and maintained.

Mr Ntshalintshali said when Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council took over, the tenants were not properly informed and were told that a company was going to renovate the flats.

The tenants were asked to sign a new lease agreement in 2005.

After signing this document, they were told they should no longer pay Govan Mbeki Municipality, but Govan Mbeki Muncipality Housing Council.

Tenants alleged that the housing council began to collect an extra R100 from the tenants who did not use prepaid electricity.

Tsalanang tenants said they now pay different amounts, not a flat rate anymore.

“After all that was happening, including the evictions, tenants said they felt that their relationship with the housing council has deteriorated.

“All we want is for the Govan Mbeki Municipality to take back ownership of the flats,” said Mr Ntshalintshali.

Sixteen tenants allegedly face possible eviction by the housing council.

The battle between the Tsalanang tenants and this council has been dragging on for years and the tenants even approached the Evander Magistrate’s Court, the Tribunal and the High Court because they said the evictions are unlawful.

Tenants are angry about the annual 10 per cent increment which they said does not appear on the existing lease agreement.

Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council was also accused of operating without an accreditation certificate from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority.

Mr Ntshalintshali said there was supposed to be a performance agreement between the Govan Mbeki Municipality and the Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council, but the papers in possession of both parties are not dated and also do not show where the agreement was signed.

Tenants blame the housing council for not maintaining the property and the rubbish is also not removed.

“We took the case of evictions to the tribunal and when the housing council arrived, they claimed not to have a lawyer.

“It was surprising that they did not have a lawyer to defend them, but they had a lawyer to put in applications for the eviction of tenants,” said Mr Ntshalintshali.

The housing council was also accused of corruption when they paid the company that arrived at Tsalanang to do some work.

The company left without doing any work.

The council is now involved in a court case for paying this company.

Tenants said the company was apparently owned by someone from China.

They heard that the company was going to build new flats.

Considering their previous experience when they were forced to sign lease agreements without proper consultation, they were afraid that they might be evicted after the completion of the new flats.

The general manager of the Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council, Ms Busisiwe Mazibuko, said it is not true that the tenants of Tsalanang flats are faced with evictions and that no tenant has been evicted in the past year.

“Only a handful of tenants are paying their rent and maintenance does take place.

“Though refuse removal is the responsibility of the municipality, Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council appointed a service provider to assist with the removal of refuse in the event that the municipality is unable to do so.

“The council is accredited by the Social Housing Regulatory Authority, so I do not know on what they base their accusations,” said Ms Mazibuko.

She further said the tenants signed lease agreements with Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council that allow them to live at Tsalanang and the municipality handed over Tsalanang to the housing council to manage the flats, that is why they pay rent to the housing council.

“Outstanding rent of tenants is more than R2 million and the housing council does all it can with the limited financial resources it has, to make sure that Tsalanang is maintained.

“The tenants need to play their role in taking care of the units and make sure the flats stay in the good condition they were when they moved in.

“The court case allegation is nothing more than an allegation. The council knows nothing about it and has not attended any court case, nor has received any summons to appear in court.

“Govan Mbeki Municipality Housing Council is a legal entity and conducts its business legally,” said Ms Mazibuko.

“For any eviction to take place, there has to be a court order to support it.”

Ms Mazibuko admitted that development is going to take place at Tsalanang, but that it has nothing to do with evicting tenants.

“The aim is to improve Tsalanang.¨

She also said social facilitation will place during which tenants will be informed about the development.