VIDEO: Irate residents highlight housing issues in Wentworth
Residents blockaded Austerville Drive in Wentworth to protest what they felt were injustices.
FRUSTRATED and unyielding Wentworth residents said they will not rest until their housing issues are attended to.
The residents blockaded Austerville Drive with rubbish that was set alight on Tuesday morning, 13 October. They were accusing another resident of fraud and corruption following her occupancy of a vacant flat on Friday night, 9 October.
“There was a flat given to one of the committee members – how all of a sudden, did this woman get this flat? When there are many other members of the community who are overcrowded in their homes and are on the government database. They also attend Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) meetings and are supposed to be allocated a home,” said Celeste King on behalf of the protesting residents.
They called the woman’s mother inconsiderate as they alleged that it was not the first of its occurrence. According to King, this is the second time the mother had given a flat to her children.
“There are other people who really need a flat or home and have got none. This woman has a three-bedroom flat and could easily accommodate her children. Because she is close to the people in the committee, all of a sudden, her daughter is given the flat.”
“Other people were taken to court and were summoned out of their homes. The daughter was not on the database and she was never ever homeless. We want all the members of the committee to come out because that flat does not belong to that woman.”
“There is a family that has been waiting for a flat for the past five years and history keeps repeating, they keep chucking them to the side,” she added.
Another resident, Roslyn King said the woman’s moving in at night only confirmed their suspicions of fraud. She called it unfair that the woman would receive the flat when there were other families in dire straits.
“If God blesses you in the day, he doesn’t bless you in the dark. To us, it shows that fraud was at play here. Why can’t the woman keep her daughter in her three-bedroom flat? We’re living with our children in just a room and kitchen.”
“We have nothing against the young woman who moved into the flat. However, the owner of the flat, a young man, was kicked out and is living in someone’s car. There is a family of 18 in one unit and no one hears their cries. All the mothers of this community have taken to the streets until our government takes us seriously. We’ve got a lot of crime, we’re overcrowded and there’s a lot of deaths here,” she said.
The media liaison officer for the office of the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Mbulelo Baloyi, refuted claims that the property management has a waiting list or database for applicants seeking accommodation in Austerville.
He said prioritisation of the desperate applicants for the allocation of vacant units in all areas is done through the ward councillor who is closer to the ground and knows the needs of the community.
“The department allocates vacant units in accordance with the Interim Rental Housing Allocation Policy Guidelines for pre-1994 housing stock and uses the relevant guiding documents. The process followed is that the councillor is required to submit a list of approximately five of the most desperate applicants to the department to be prioritised together with a letter of motivation.”
“The name of the successful applicant allocated the flat was submitted by the ward councillor. An official or manager does not submit any names to be considered and no one official has the authority to allocate the flat,” he said.
Baloyi added that the office of Human Settlements and Public Works investigates the cases submitted by the ward councillor who then submits it to the Housing Adjudication Committee (HAC), which comprises several senior managers within the department who deliberate on each case.
“This is inclusive of the legal services and policy directorates. HAC meets and assesses each case using internal processes, policies, procedures, and uniform criteria to compare the different applicants.”
“HAC then submits a recommendation for consideration by the executive management of the department and ultimately for the approval of the head of the department. The vacant flat was allocated after assessing and considering all the applicants against the departmental criteria. The most desperate applicant was one of nine priority,” he said.
He said his department was not aware of the corruption cited and officials taking bribes. “If there is evidence to this effect it should be brought to us so that we can investigate.”
The woman accused had not responded to the SUN’s questions at the time of publication. Ward 68 councillor, Aubrey Snyman’s phone rang unanswered.
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