ABOUT 100 RDP house beneficiaries in Mpumalanga want answers from the municipality after the houses they have been waiting for were given to other people.
ABOUT 100 RDP house beneficiaries in Mpumalanga want answers from the municipality after the houses they have been waiting for were given to other people.
To the beneficiaries' dismay, their applications were cancelled and their names replaced.
eMalahleni municipality spokesperson Lebohang Mofokeng said the council was not aware of the problem.
One of the affected beneficiaries, Lina Hlatshwayo, told Sowetan yesterday: "When I went to my house, No 2200 Klarint, I was shocked to find curtains hung at the windows. I immediately went to the municipality to enquire.
"I was told by the officials that according to their records, I had moved to Nelspruit and informed the municipality that I was no longer interested in the house. That is a lie, I never told anyone that I did not want my RDP house anymore," she said.
She showed Sowetan her shack, asking how she could turn down the RDP house - which she described as a "luxury house compared to the one- roomed shack I live in".
Another beneficiary, Salome Tala, said: "I have been waiting to get my RDP house since 2004, but I got the shock of my life when I went there and found people staying in the house. They claimed they were the new owners."
Most of the affected beneficiaries are elderly women living in tiny shacks.
"I was very excited when I was put on the list to get proper shelter, but my excitement was short-lived when I was told that my name had been cancelled and that the house had been given to another person," said Bongi Mbuyisa.
When Sowetan contacted one of the people in the houses in question, the owner, who identified himself as Ntate Mokoena, said he had bought the house from an unnamed municipal official.
Mofokeng said he was not aware of the matter but promised to investigate the allegations.
rdp houses beneficiaries out in the cold
ABOUT 100 RDP house beneficiaries in Mpumalanga want answers from the municipality after the houses they have been waiting for were given to other people.
ABOUT 100 RDP house beneficiaries in Mpumalanga want answers from the municipality after the houses they have been waiting for were given to other people.
To the beneficiaries' dismay, their applications were cancelled and their names replaced.
eMalahleni municipality spokesperson Lebohang Mofokeng said the council was not aware of the problem.
One of the affected beneficiaries, Lina Hlatshwayo, told Sowetan yesterday: "When I went to my house, No 2200 Klarint, I was shocked to find curtains hung at the windows. I immediately went to the municipality to enquire.
"I was told by the officials that according to their records, I had moved to Nelspruit and informed the municipality that I was no longer interested in the house. That is a lie, I never told anyone that I did not want my RDP house anymore," she said.
She showed Sowetan her shack, asking how she could turn down the RDP house - which she described as a "luxury house compared to the one- roomed shack I live in".
Another beneficiary, Salome Tala, said: "I have been waiting to get my RDP house since 2004, but I got the shock of my life when I went there and found people staying in the house. They claimed they were the new owners."
Most of the affected beneficiaries are elderly women living in tiny shacks.
"I was very excited when I was put on the list to get proper shelter, but my excitement was short-lived when I was told that my name had been cancelled and that the house had been given to another person," said Bongi Mbuyisa.
When Sowetan contacted one of the people in the houses in question, the owner, who identified himself as Ntate Mokoena, said he had bought the house from an unnamed municipal official.
Mofokeng said he was not aware of the matter but promised to investigate the allegations.
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