Cape Town - The illegal sale of Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses (the old RDP houses) is becoming a concern for the department of human settlements in the Western Cape, which has received numerous complaints about the selling of units across the province.
But department spokesperson Nathan Adriaanse said they were not in a position to indicate how many complaints had been received as they were forwarded on different platforms.
“Many who contact us to lay a complaint prefer to remain anonymous.”
Adriaanse said the provincial department has the pre-emptive right clause, which is contained in the sale agreement and title deed.
The clause states that the BNG unit cannot be sold within an eight-year period, and should the unit become available for sale during the eight year period, the state has first option to purchase it.
SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) provincial chairperson Bongikhaya Qhama said they did not support the selling of RDP houses that have been provided to people.
“We believe that the government should work with community structures to stop the sale of these houses within the stipulated period,” said Qhama.
There has to be stricter measures in place to discourage home-owners from selling their RDP houses, he said.
“Keeping in mind that there are always people who are more deserving that long for the same opportunity for housing,” he said.
Human settlements Mayco member, Malusi Booi, said the City’s allocation policy states that in terms of Housing Opportunities (2015), a beneficiary shall not rent his/her property until the transfer of the property has been registered.
Booi said the City urged residents to be aware of scammers wanting to take advantage of vulnerable residents in need of affordable accommodation across the metro.
This comes after Parliament’s portfolio committee on human settlements called on the Department of Human Settlements to work with law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute those who sell RDP houses.
The committee embarked on a week-long oversight visit to Gauteng last week, to assess the implementation of targets, and was informed of the persistent problem of third parties selling RDP houses to the poor.
“We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this perennial problem of illegality, where criminal elements exploit the desperation caused by the longing for security of tenure. These people are extorting the poor who are forced to approach loan sharks to get money to access housing," said Machwene Semenya, committee chairperson.
She said “those criminals must be brought to book through collaboration between the police, the department and communities at large”.