Posts

INVESTIGATION

Still waiting for promised RDP houses, nine years later

By Thembela Ntongana First published on GroundUp Nine years ago, families moved from Ezinkomeni to nearby Unit P in Mdantsane, East London’s largest township. They did so on the understanding that RDP houses would be ready for them in six months. Today, they are still living in container homes. Members of the 27 families say Read more >

OPINIONS

No place like home, but not for all South Africans

By Melusi Ncala First published in Bosveld Review Childhood memories are often coloured by sunny days, clear and cool swimming pools, conversations filled with laughter, and tasty boerewors rolls and salads. This hive of activity takes place in a sizable yard where the lawns are neatly cut, green trees are perfectly pruned and there is Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Human Settlements moves RDP housing goalposts

John Twala* is a 47-year-old father of two from Johannesburg’s West Rand in Johannesburg who reported a case of suspected illegal occupation of his RDP to Corruption Watch earlier this year. An investigation was launched that has since revealed that although he had been allocated the stand on which the house in question was built, Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Negotiating the RDP rules and regulations

“We will take back those houses if you sell them for profit, because we build them for a purpose. Put it away safely.” This was reportedly said earlier this year to a group of residents of the Sol Plaatjie municipality, who had gathered to witness the handing over of title deeds to beneficiaries of over Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Tlokwe’s forgotten community

By Valencia Talane Away from the political power drama that has made Tlokwe municipality in North West a hot topic recently, is the story of a small town – like many others in South Africa – where service delivery is seen to be compromised by corruption and non-accountability in the eyes of the community.   Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Political barons demanding tjo-tjo from elderly!

Here’s a snapshot of some of the corruption incidents* we’ve received from the public recently, so you can get a feel for the kind of trends we're picking up: nepotism and bribery the order of the day at education departments and political barons in a certain township taking advantage of elderly residents desperate for RDP Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Councillors, residents meet after report to CW

Valencia Talane No councillor in Ivory Park would interfere with the building of new RDP houses or the allocation of houses that had already been built, ward councillor Petru Zitha emphasized at a meeting between residents and City of Johannesburg housing officials. Ivory Park, in the northeastern suburb of Midrand, is in Joburg’s Region A, Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Poor hurt most by dodgy procurement

South Africa loses about R25-billion each year to corruption in government procurement – think textbooks not arriving on time at schools, shoddily built RDP houses and tender-rigging. But the real victims are the poor and marginalised, who depend on these procured goods and services. In 2011, Willie Homeyr, then head of the Special Investigating Unit Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Cracks exposed in RDP housing system

Poverty, it is said, is not a crime. Poor people do not ask to be in a position where they are at the mercy of others. Naomi Genu, from Kagiso in Mogale City, is just one of many who is paying a high price for being poor. In July this year, she will turn 40, Read more >