The Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing evicted at least 51 families during the Easter weekend who had illegally allocated themselves RDP houses at Winterveldt in Tshwane. The department was granted an eviction order by the North Gauteng High Court to have illegal occupants removed from the RDP houses.
The illegal occupants moved into the finished RDP houses before they were allocated to the rightful beneficiaries. After the eviction the department then allocated the houses to the qualified and rightful beneficiaries so that the houses are not left unoccupied.
Local Government and Housing MEC Ntombi Mekgwe has welcomed the eviction as a victory against those who are hell bent on breaking the law. “These people are always coming up with desperate attempts to jump the waiting list by invading RDP houses. We are going to make sure that such attempts by these people fail to yield expected results of beating the queue,” said Mekgwe.
MEC Mekgwe said they are not going to allow anyone to use illegal ways in order to get an RDP houses. “We are quite aware that people have long been waiting for their RDP houses but there is no need to resort to illegal occupation. What is astonishing that some of these people who welcome themselves into our houses without our consent do not qualify for RDP houses,” said Mekgwe.
Mekgwe mentioned that the Winterveldt project is not only going to provide RDP houses but also accommodate those who earn more than R3 500 a month.
She said the demand of houses in Gauteng is huge and they are committed to build more houses for the residents. “We would like to urge our people to be patient with us and we will deliver on our commitment. Attempts to invade houses are not going to work because we will use anything at our disposal to fight this scourge in the province,” she said.
The 68 year old township of Winterveldt became the fourth urban renewal project undertaken by the Gauteng Provincial Government.
For more information contact:
Motsamai Motlhaolwa
Cell: 079 897 2240
