'Dead' mother taken off RDP list

A Pretoria mother who waited for seven years to get her government-subsidised house has learnt with great shock that her home was reallocated to another person because she had "died".

Mankididi Masuwe's RDP house was apparently given to the " next unknown person" in the housing list because she had "died" in 2014, according to housing records.

Masuwe is a former Black Like Me hair products model. She first learnt "of my death" from her aunt who had visited the city's human settlements offices to check the progress of her own application.

"She called me and said the system showed that I had died and that my house was given to the person next in line on the waiting list," Masuwe said.

Masuwe, who lives with her 15-year-old son in a single rented backyard room in Mamelodi East, said she went to check her status at the department of home affairs and found she was "very much alive".

"I have rented back rooms with my son for 13 years. We need our privacy but we have to share a bed. I had hoped that one day we would have a home of our own but I do not know what will happen to my son if I die," she said.

Masuwe, a single mother who lost her job as a cleaner at a local private college in December, said she suspected a crooked official fraudulently declared her dead so that they could sell her house.

Masuwe said after she learnt of her "death" she received a call from a person who identified himself as "Alex" asking to meet her about her RDP house.

"He just told me to meet him next to the shopping complex after hours. I refused to meet him because I am scared."

Tshwane MMC for human settlements Mandla Nkomo said they were not aware of the matter but would investigate.

He said the allocation of RDP houses in Tshwane was riddled with corruption and fraud. "The database itself is just a big mess, which enables government officials to fraudulently allocate houses. It is a first time we come across a matter where somebody was declared dead," he said.