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Frustrated by the failure of the Endumeni Local Municipality and the KwaZulu-Natal human settlements department to return stolen RDP houses to the rightful beneficiaries, residents in Dundee have asked the Pietermaritzburg High Court to intervene.
They want the court to force the council to give them the homes that were allocated in 2015, but which were given to other people – among them ward committee members – in the township’s Extension 19 and 20.
The residents also want the court to order Endumeni to provide comprehensive RDP housing lists for the 1 200-unit housing project, along with records of the qualification process.
A year ago, desperate residents in Dundee’s Sibongile Township blew the whistle on an alleged RDP housing scam after houses allocated to them by the municipality were suddenly hijacked by ward committee members, who then forced desperate beneficiaries without alternative accommodation to pay rent to them as “landlords” for houses that were meant to be free.
Last year, City Press profiled Bonginkosi Mfeka, Thokozani Nene and Zanele Moloi as three of the residents who were informed by the municipality that their houses were ready for occupation, but who were later forced to pay rent to strangers who collected the money on behalf of committee members.
In an affidavit in the interests of the affected residents, Endumeni Civic Association chairperson Mzwakhe Sithebe asked the court to force the council to provide a plan for the return of the houses to their rightful owners, and for the council to report back to the court on progress made to ensure that the process was concluded.
Sithebe accused the council of violating the constitutional rights of the residents by arbitrarily manipulating the RDP housing lists.
He said the council’s housing allocation excluded “eligible” applicants.
The residents also asked the court to appoint an auditor to scrutinise the housing lists to identify illegal occupants, saying the Endumeni Civic Association’s previous attempts to get accurate lists from the council had been unsuccessful.
Instead, three lists that did not match were handed over, indicating the lists had been “tampered with” – some homes had been allocated to up to three different families.
In addition, applications by nine residents were unlawfully withdrawn and replaced on the lists with those of unknown individuals.
Although the community had raised the matter with the council and the human settlements department in the province, nothing had been done. Criminal charges were laid with the SA Police Service, and a series of meetings were held with the council and the department.
However, there have been no arrests and no corruption charges have been brought.
Endumeni municipal manager Thami Biyela, who recently returned to work after the new council, which was elected in August, resolved to lift his four-year suspension, said he had been on sick leave, but had been informed that a summons had been served on the council.
“I will attend to the matter as soon as I return to the office. I am not in a position to comment on the content of the summons as I have not seen it.”
Biyela argued that the matter took place when he was on suspension, but said he would respond later.
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