The Department of Human Settlements has confirmed that a staggering 1.2 million people are waiting for RDP houses in Gauteng.
Gauteng Department of Human Settlement spokesperson Tahir Sema said the housing backlog is caused by bulk infrastructure, lack of suitable land, migration and urbanisation.
“RDP house cost R116 000 to build and there were cases where after building a house, municipalities met challenges when an owner has to occupy. Sometimes it becomes hard for the department to trace beneficiaries after a project is complete. There is also a challenge of invasions and 95% of complete houses vandalism”, said Sema.
Sema told Gauteng News that registration of municipal accounts at local municipal level will be delayed. He said they are fighting corrupt officials as one got dismissed in 2019 from the department, due to RDP houses corruption.
“1 217 948 Gauteng residents are waiting for RDP houses. It is so unfortunate that there is high rate of land invasion and residents put shacks everywhere. In some places red ants evict people and destroy their belongings or houses if they had already build”, he added.
Sema said not everyone in South Africa qualifies for RDP houses as certain criteria should be met for an individual to apply.
“People who apply for RDP houses should be South African citizens or hold a permanent residence permit. An applicant or spouse should not have benefited from housing assistance. They should also have not owned a fixed residential property but qualify to buy vacant service site. The whole family must earn a salary of less than R3 500”, he added.
According to Sema, more than a million housing opportunities have been delivered by the provincial government since South Africa attained democracy.
