Residents express frustration over delayed RDP housing allocations in the Westrand
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara was on Thursday met with dissatisfied residents of Westonaria, who claimed that more than two decades after applying for their Redistribution and Development (RDP) houses, they are still awaiting for the allocations.
Motara visited the Elijah Barayi Mega Project in Merafong as well as the Westonaria Borwa Housing projects-Westonaria is set to deliver 16,000 housing units.
With reports that some of the people have illegally taken occupation of some of the units, this project is now the source of a legal battle as the provincial government awaits an eviction order before allocating unoccupied units to those who are on the waiting list.
Madiditseng Ratseu, leader of residents of the Greater Westrand region, on behalf of the affected residents, said some residents have been on the waiting list for more than two decades and are yet to be allocated their houses.
“Some of us are still waiting for housing, and we have not been allocated our RDP houses. We have been knocking on the doors of the provincial government since the days of Paul Mashatile. We want them to come back and address us on what is happening with our houses. Some people have occupied the houses without the necessary documents, and we will do the same as well,” one concerned resident of Westonaria stated.
Ratseu said as a result of these illegal occupations, no one will be allowed to take ownership of the projects.
“There are people who have allocated themselves and stolen houses. This cannot be allowed to continue when there are pensioners and disabled people who have not been given their houses.”
Motara said that her department has taken the matter to the court and is waiting for the court to make a determination.
“We have taken these people to court so that we can get our houses back. We will wait for the court process and it’s unfortunate that we do not control this process. We can only act against the occupiers once we have heard from the court,” Motara told the community.
The residents vowed to continue taking to the streets until their demands are met.
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