Residents of Daveyton in Ekurhuleni who have invaded RDP houses are refusing to vacate them, claiming their allocation was flawed.

On Monday, Ekurhuleni metro police forcefully removed some of the residents who illegally occupied houses at Chief Albert Luthuli Ext 6, but soon after their eviction some residents returned to illegally occupy the houses again.

According to the Gauteng department of human settlements, 43 houses were illegally occupied.

Vusi Mnguni, one of the RDP invaders, said problems arose during the houses' allocation by the department late last year.

Mnguni said they discovered that a lot of people from a neighbouring Gabon informal settlement and those who live in backyard rooms in Daveyton had been overlooked.

"We asked the people allocating the house to produce data which could prove that the people moving into the houses were on the waiting list and they failed. We then allocated ourselves some of the houses," Mnguni said.

The community further alleged that some of the houses had been sold to people who did not qualify.

Mnguni said all the people who have moved into the houses were not willing to leave. "We are not going anywhere. These are our homes now," he said.

Sowetan spoke to two people who illegally bought houses in the development.

Neither of them were able to occupy the houses for which they paid money.

Peggy*, one of them, said she learnt about the sale of houses from colleagues at the Gauteng department of health where she worked.

"They gave me a number to call and I called the lady. She told me that she works for the Gauteng department of human settlements in Germiston. We made arrangements for me to pay R25,000 in installments. I did pay all the money.

"I wanted the house for my brother because I live with him and he needs his own place."

Peggy said she paid the official, who she identified as Margaret, in installments of R5,000 using retail money transfers.

She said Margaret never met her in person but once sent another woman to give her Form C, which is issued by the department to people on its housing waiting list.

Another resident said she learnt from friends about the houses being sold at Chief Albert Luthuli Park and started making payments last year.

She made payments in installments totalling R45,000 in cash. When she finally got the key to her home last year, she found someone living there.

Both women have written sworn affidavits at the police station confirming that they paid for the houses.

The Gauteng department of human settlements said it was aware of the illegal occupation of the houses and the scams of people selling them.

"In November, the department reported the allegations of illegal sale of RDP houses at Chief Luthuli to law enforcement agencies. The department further calls on people with new information, especially those who have an affidavit that they bought the houses from officials, to report the matter." said department spokesperson Tahir Sema.

Sema said on top of the 43 houses invaded, 55 others were almost complete. The development is expected to yield 363 houses to benefit people on the department's database in Daveyton.

*Not her real name.