Old age housing scheme exposed

A man was caught red-handed ‘selling’ units at Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre.

Illegal occupancy of units at this centre has been in the spotlight in recent months with the Department of Human Settlements having failed twice in court to secure evictions of illegal occupiers in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land (PIE) ACT.

The Roodepoort Record was investigating the ‘selling’ scam where people would be either illegally added to the top of the list of approved applicants for placement in government old age facilities for a fee, or ‘sold’ a unit.

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The man, currently a resident of the centre, has allegedly worked in cahoots with a resident in Tornado Park Retirement Centre. Unnamed officials within the Department of Human Settlements facilitated the illegal ‘sale’ of units not only in Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre but also at other local facilities such as Tornado Park and Klein Helderkruin for as little as R8 000.

The Roodepoort Record has come across information that some units have gone for as much as R45 000.

The man was caught out when a buyer, who had been strung along for months became disillusioned and reported the matter to a community activist, handing over all the proof of the transaction that had taken place.

The Record managed to track down both the buyer and the activist.

According to Sharon Kahn, she knew that buying her way into a unit was wrong, but she was becoming desperate as she would soon have nowhere to live.

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“I was introduced to this man via a mutual acquaintance [the resident at Tornado Park Old Age Centre] and it was not long before he contacted me, offering to get me into a unit for R20 000. Of course, I jumped at the chance as I was desperate.

“I met up with the two men at Tornado Park and paid the R20 000 asking price.”

The Record has a video depicting the men counting the money.

“I was told that I could look at a unit in Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre, which I did, but I did not like the unit as there were lots of maintenance issues.

“I was then told about no 37 Tornado Park, which was perfect. I accepted and was given the keys.”

The problems started when Kahn started demanding the relevant documentation, as she was told that the whole transaction would be done above board and she would receive a contract.

“The man had a different story every time and it became so bad that I demanded my money back.”

On Monday, January 27, Kahn showed up at the unit in Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre with community activist Natalie Solomons in tow. Solomons has been active at the centre and was responsible for staging a protest action at the centre late last year.

“This is exactly what we’ve been working toward,” says Solomons, adding that it was no secret that this man was one of the persons responsible for ‘selling’ of units.

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“We just could not prove it, until now.”

Kahn has since been summoned to a meeting with high-ranking Department of Human Settlements officials as well as forensic investigators.

“An official came after I have been living in the unit for more than 48 hours and damaged the door, trying to stop me from entering the unit,” Kahn says. “The next day, security prevented me from entering the facility, which is illegal since the PIE Act is now in force, which means they need a court order to evict me.”

The Record has submitted questions to Human Settlements communication officer Buntukazi Xuba, who responded with a short statement saying that the matter has been taken up with Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) and relevant sanction (sic) will be unleashed on the individual that is found guilty of an offence.

“The department has zero tolerance for corruption and fraud and takes this matter seriously. We are also taking it further and running an anti-corruption campaign with GFIS to deter any corrupt activities within the department,” reads the statement.

More questions have since been submitted to Human Settlements, but no answers have been forthcoming by the time of publication.