80 Percent of RDP houses occupied illegally
Preliminary results of an investigation into the tenancy of RDP houses in Philippi’s Samora Machel suburb, which started a week ago, has found that only about 20 percent of those occupying RDP houses are the rightful beneficiaries.
About half of the over 4000 RDP houses built in the area have been surveyed so far, said Samora Machel ward councillor Monwabisi Mbaliswano on Tuesday.
Mbaliswano said 20 community members supported by the provincial Human Settlement Department, were going door-to-door and requesting the property title deeds.
The Samora Machel investigation, and a parallel investigation in Khayelitsha’s Mandela Park, was launched by the department three weeks ago after Development Forum executive committee members noted that many people who had been allocated RDP houses sold them before the national Human Settlement Department’s moratorium on the sale of state-subsidised houses by beneficiaries had lapsed.
Mbaliswano said according to preliminary results of the investigation in Samora Machel, residents who received RDP houses sometimes sold them due to poor building standards or to raise money for things such as burying relatives or relocating back to the Eastern Cape.
“We have found out that some of the beneficiaries had sold their houses and are now living in informal settlements and have re-registered in the housing department database,” he said.
Mbaliswano said most of the people who had bought RDP houses had no title deeds to prove it was their house, and only had affidavits from the police.
Zalisile Mbali, spokesperson for Human Settlement MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, confirmed the investigations into RDP house tenancy were ongoing.
“Most of the people who were allocated houses seem to be going back to living in shacks while some are reported to be living in the Eastern Cape,” said Mbali.
However, he said he could not yet say what would happen to people who were illegally occupying RDP houses.
But Mbali dismissed Mbaliswano’s figure of 80 percent illegal tenancy, saying: “We don’t know where the figures come from because the survey is not yet done. We will table the results once they are ready”.
Keywords: - RDP houses, Human Settlement Department’s, Bonginkosi Madikizela, Zalisile Mbali, poor building standards, concrete homes, western Cape
Showing posts with label RDP houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RDP houses. Show all posts
RDP houses sold in contravention of Housing Act to be confiscated
RDP houses sold in contravention of Housing Act to be confiscated
RDP houses in the province transferred to beneficiaries less than eight years ago, which have been sold by their owners, will be confiscated and given to the needy, says Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela.
Location specific audits have revealed that in some cases, as in George, up to 90 percent of RDP houses have been sold by beneficiaries, and a visit by former housing MEC Richard Dyantyi in 2008 revealed that up to 60 percent of RDP houses in Du Noon had been sold or let.
But Madikizela said the Housing Act stipulated that the RDP housing beneficiaries were not allowed to sell their houses within an eight year period, and his department was to audit the 101 000 housing subsidies granted since 2002.
“The houses that are returned to the Department in terms of the pre-emptive right clause (in the Housing Act) will be reallocated by municipalities to qualifying people in terms of the relevant criteria,” said Madikizela.
“We will find a way that government reclaim the houses (RDP) and give them to the needy.”
But he said the magnitude of the problem had to first be determined.
To this end his department was busy drafting terms of reference to appoint a service provider to analyse the status of all state-funded housing projects.
He said the survey to be conducted by an appointed service provider would also establish how many title deeds still needed to be transferred to beneficiaries and, where title deeds had not been handed over, what the reasons for the delay were.
“It is anticipated that this survey of our projects will be concluded by the end of the financial year (31 March 2011). However, once we have some preliminary data from this study we will already be in a position to start to plot a way forward in dealing with this matter.”
In Du Noon residents were scared to speak about the sales and ownership of RDP houses, saying they feared being killed if they spoke out about what exactly was happening.
Community leader Madlomo Ndamane said the sale of RDP houses was “a hot business” in the township.
“Its a big problem.”
She said beneficiaries sold their house, and then once they had spent their money, tried to reclaim it.
She also said there were people who were approved RDP house beneficiaries, but never occupied their house, suggesting that money could have exchanged hands and other people were given the houses instead.
Meanwhile, the City has admitted that it was battling to issue title deeds to approved RDP housing
beneficiaries in the metro.
Land acquisition specialist in the city’s housing directorate, Marlize Odendal said in many cases the occupants of RDP houses were not the official beneficiaries, which made it difficult for the city to issue title deeds.
“It’s a general problem (issuing of title deeds) and its country wide,” said Odendal
A senior city official in the housing directorate, who did not want to be named as he was not sure he was allowed to speak to the press, said the process of issuing title deeds in Du Noon was suspended last year as city-contracted workers received death threats from residents.
Blaauwberg sub-council chair Heather Brenner confirmed that city efforts to investigate “approved beneficiaries” of RDP houses in Du Noon had been continuously disrupted by people who did not want the project to move forward.
Brenner said of about 1000 RDP houses in Du Noon, half of them had been investigated and were occupied by official beneficiaries, but the remainder were unknown and under suspicion because residents there had threatened city contractors.
“It’s been a very frustrating exercise, true beneficiaries have been waiting for ten years to get their title deeds. They deserve them.”
Odendal said similar problems had been experienced in Gugulethu and Langa. — West Cape News
Keywords - RDP, illegal, confiscated, MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, RDP houses, beneficiaries, Housing Act, human settlements, department, western cape, capetown
RDP houses in the province transferred to beneficiaries less than eight years ago, which have been sold by their owners, will be confiscated and given to the needy, says Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela.
Location specific audits have revealed that in some cases, as in George, up to 90 percent of RDP houses have been sold by beneficiaries, and a visit by former housing MEC Richard Dyantyi in 2008 revealed that up to 60 percent of RDP houses in Du Noon had been sold or let.
But Madikizela said the Housing Act stipulated that the RDP housing beneficiaries were not allowed to sell their houses within an eight year period, and his department was to audit the 101 000 housing subsidies granted since 2002.
“The houses that are returned to the Department in terms of the pre-emptive right clause (in the Housing Act) will be reallocated by municipalities to qualifying people in terms of the relevant criteria,” said Madikizela.
“We will find a way that government reclaim the houses (RDP) and give them to the needy.”
But he said the magnitude of the problem had to first be determined.
To this end his department was busy drafting terms of reference to appoint a service provider to analyse the status of all state-funded housing projects.
He said the survey to be conducted by an appointed service provider would also establish how many title deeds still needed to be transferred to beneficiaries and, where title deeds had not been handed over, what the reasons for the delay were.
“It is anticipated that this survey of our projects will be concluded by the end of the financial year (31 March 2011). However, once we have some preliminary data from this study we will already be in a position to start to plot a way forward in dealing with this matter.”
In Du Noon residents were scared to speak about the sales and ownership of RDP houses, saying they feared being killed if they spoke out about what exactly was happening.
Community leader Madlomo Ndamane said the sale of RDP houses was “a hot business” in the township.
“Its a big problem.”
She said beneficiaries sold their house, and then once they had spent their money, tried to reclaim it.
She also said there were people who were approved RDP house beneficiaries, but never occupied their house, suggesting that money could have exchanged hands and other people were given the houses instead.
Meanwhile, the City has admitted that it was battling to issue title deeds to approved RDP housing
beneficiaries in the metro.
Land acquisition specialist in the city’s housing directorate, Marlize Odendal said in many cases the occupants of RDP houses were not the official beneficiaries, which made it difficult for the city to issue title deeds.
“It’s a general problem (issuing of title deeds) and its country wide,” said Odendal
A senior city official in the housing directorate, who did not want to be named as he was not sure he was allowed to speak to the press, said the process of issuing title deeds in Du Noon was suspended last year as city-contracted workers received death threats from residents.
Blaauwberg sub-council chair Heather Brenner confirmed that city efforts to investigate “approved beneficiaries” of RDP houses in Du Noon had been continuously disrupted by people who did not want the project to move forward.
Brenner said of about 1000 RDP houses in Du Noon, half of them had been investigated and were occupied by official beneficiaries, but the remainder were unknown and under suspicion because residents there had threatened city contractors.
“It’s been a very frustrating exercise, true beneficiaries have been waiting for ten years to get their title deeds. They deserve them.”
Odendal said similar problems had been experienced in Gugulethu and Langa. — West Cape News
Keywords - RDP, illegal, confiscated, MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, RDP houses, beneficiaries, Housing Act, human settlements, department, western cape, capetown
NHBRC has ordered the rebuilding of more than 700 RDP houses
RDP housing hiccups - NHBRC has ordered the rebuilding of more than 700 RDP houses
THE National Home Builders’ Registration Council (NHBRC) has ordered the rebuilding of more than 700 RDP houses in Ilinge after an assessment conducted by the council identified defects allegedly due to shoddy work by the building contractors.The council, which is responsible for protecting the interests of housing consumers and regulating the home building industry, was appointed by the provincial Housing Department to look into Ilinge’s RDP houses.A rectification programme was initiated after the council found defects, ranging from loose and/or leaking roofs, doors and windows not properly fitted, visible cracks and poor sanitation, in most of the homes.A new contractor has been entrusted with the rebuilding of the houses as part of the programme. During a recent visit by The Rep to the area, some residents criticized the move as a waste of government funds. Resident and member of the Ilinge housing joint management committee Mangele Mali said over 1 215 RDP houses worth R23 million had initially been constructed as part of a housing project approved in 2001.“Around 399 houses were initially put on the rectification programme by the NHBRC, but it was later discovered that there were more houses which had serious defects, bringing the number to 700. We believe that the problem was the theft of building supplies resulting in contractors resorting to using whatever was left to complete houses.” Fellow committee member Michael Khalipha blamed the situation on Lukhanji municipality and the Housing Department’s failure to provide inspectors to check up on the work.Khalipha claimed this week that the contractor appointed to carry out the rectification programme had allegedly absconded without finishing the project.The Rep was also told by a source that one of the project’s initial contractors was amongst contractors honoured by the department during the Govan Mbeki provincial Housing Awards in Queenstown last year. Lukhanji municipality spokesman Mkhululi Titi confirmed that 700 houses in Ilinge had been found with defects following an investigation on complaints of shoddy work done on RDP housing projects in the Eastern Cape.He said the municipality and the department could not conduct inspections as the contractor had to close for the December holidays.“There were challenges involving the NHBRC and the contractor doing the repairs. We are expecting the company to invite us and the department for inspection of the completed work. We are not able to comment on other issues at this stage,” Titi said.NHBRC rectification programme manager Mohau Tsiki this week described Ilinge as a “unique” situation as most of the houses needed to be demolished and rebuilt while others needed repairs. He said an assessment carried out by the council’s inspectorate had identified that most of the RDP houses were sub-standard. A total of R3,4 million had been set aside for the programme in Ilinge. Provincial Housing spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said 96 houses were under construction while 35 were nearing completion. No completed house had passed inspection yet. He said 301 houses were not part of the current rectification process and would be dealt with in the 2009/10 financial year. The final inspection would be conducted by the beneficiaries, department, NHBRC, Lukhanji municipality and the consultants.
THE National Home Builders’ Registration Council (NHBRC) has ordered the rebuilding of more than 700 RDP houses in Ilinge after an assessment conducted by the council identified defects allegedly due to shoddy work by the building contractors.The council, which is responsible for protecting the interests of housing consumers and regulating the home building industry, was appointed by the provincial Housing Department to look into Ilinge’s RDP houses.A rectification programme was initiated after the council found defects, ranging from loose and/or leaking roofs, doors and windows not properly fitted, visible cracks and poor sanitation, in most of the homes.A new contractor has been entrusted with the rebuilding of the houses as part of the programme. During a recent visit by The Rep to the area, some residents criticized the move as a waste of government funds. Resident and member of the Ilinge housing joint management committee Mangele Mali said over 1 215 RDP houses worth R23 million had initially been constructed as part of a housing project approved in 2001.“Around 399 houses were initially put on the rectification programme by the NHBRC, but it was later discovered that there were more houses which had serious defects, bringing the number to 700. We believe that the problem was the theft of building supplies resulting in contractors resorting to using whatever was left to complete houses.” Fellow committee member Michael Khalipha blamed the situation on Lukhanji municipality and the Housing Department’s failure to provide inspectors to check up on the work.Khalipha claimed this week that the contractor appointed to carry out the rectification programme had allegedly absconded without finishing the project.The Rep was also told by a source that one of the project’s initial contractors was amongst contractors honoured by the department during the Govan Mbeki provincial Housing Awards in Queenstown last year. Lukhanji municipality spokesman Mkhululi Titi confirmed that 700 houses in Ilinge had been found with defects following an investigation on complaints of shoddy work done on RDP housing projects in the Eastern Cape.He said the municipality and the department could not conduct inspections as the contractor had to close for the December holidays.“There were challenges involving the NHBRC and the contractor doing the repairs. We are expecting the company to invite us and the department for inspection of the completed work. We are not able to comment on other issues at this stage,” Titi said.NHBRC rectification programme manager Mohau Tsiki this week described Ilinge as a “unique” situation as most of the houses needed to be demolished and rebuilt while others needed repairs. He said an assessment carried out by the council’s inspectorate had identified that most of the RDP houses were sub-standard. A total of R3,4 million had been set aside for the programme in Ilinge. Provincial Housing spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said 96 houses were under construction while 35 were nearing completion. No completed house had passed inspection yet. He said 301 houses were not part of the current rectification process and would be dealt with in the 2009/10 financial year. The final inspection would be conducted by the beneficiaries, department, NHBRC, Lukhanji municipality and the consultants.
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