Soweto residents picketed outside the City of Joburg offices in Braamfontein on Thursday in an attempt to get the City of Joburg to speed up the approval of their RDP applications, with most of them dating as far back as 1996.
Image: Siyabonga Sithole
Scores of Soweto residents who claim to have spent more than 20 years waiting for the City of Joburg to approve their RDP houses took their pleas for help to the Joburg mayor's offices in Braamfontein on Thursday.
The residents marched to the offices of mayor, Dada Morero, and MMC for Human Settlements, Mlungisi Mabaso, who due to prior commitments, were not available to take their memorandum of demands.
These residents, who have vowed to stage another protest over this matter, revealed that they have found no joy in the government which has failed to ensure their dignity through the allocation of one of the most basic human rights as guaranteed by the country's Constitution - shelter.
Some revealed that they have spent more than 30 years awaiting approval from the city amid allegations of bribery, corruption, and prioritisation of foreigners and other non-Soweto residents at their expense.
"We are not happy with how the government continues to treat us as South Africans. As you can see, some of the people here are pensioners. Others have died without having owned a house," one protester, who did not want to be named, said.
The shortage of adequate housing in the province is backed by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements' own admission in 2022 in which the province indicated that it is battling with a backlog of more than 1.2 million RDP housing applications, with some of the residents reported to have been on the waiting list since 1996.
However, at the centre of the residents' frustration are recent reports that the city had brought non-Soweto residents to occupy RDP flats in Fleurhof when they have not benefitted from the city's allocation for almost 30 years.
Among those who have spent almost three decades without benefitting from the government's housing scheme for the poor, is Cynthia Nontangane from Mofolo South in Soweto.
Nontangane indicated that she is forced to share a family home that is home to four generations of the Nontangane clan.
"The mayor is not here to address our cries for help. I made my application when I was just 22 years old, now I am 56 years old and almost a pensioner yet, I do not have anything to show for it. Every time I come to check on my progress, I am told there are other people on the list. Does applying for RDP have to take another 27 years?" she asked.
Reading from their memorandum of demands, community leader Thato Malebo indicated that they want the city to prioritise these members who have had to wait three decades for houses.
The leaders of the march accused the city of prioritising foreigners and people from other provinces over Soweto-born citizens. They also indicated that housing officials solicit bribes from them in order to access RDP houses.
"We demand our RDP houses as part of our human rights. Section 26 guarantees us this right. We demand immediate delivery of RDP houses and services on a massive scale so that beneficiaries access their RDP. We as citizens do not want foreigners who evade taxes and become a burden. It is very saddening for us to suffer without RDPs while foreigners benefit from our government," said Malebo.
Mahlodi Njakanjaka from Meadowlands indicated that she has been on the wait list since 1998 and with every visit to the Human Settlements offices, she is told she must wait some more.
"Whenever I go to check, I am told I am still on the waiting list. I'm here to plead with the government to approve my RDP house as people are paying R5 000 for RDPs, while some of us who do not have money and have been on the list for more than 20 years are made to wait," she said.
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za
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