Tensions are heightening among residents of Ext. 9 and 10 in Alexandra relating to housing disputes dating as far back as 2010.
This results from the allocation by the Joburg Development Agency [then ARP] of about 5 000 RDP houses to residents moved from shacks located around Alex schools and the Jukskei River banks.
It’s alleged that the allocations were done in an ill advised, unfair and non-transparent manner. The houses comprise double storey buildings of several rooms, with two attached outside rooms with one toilet and a sink.
Residents who requested anonymity said the problem started when some residents were allocated the double storey buildings and others were allocated the two attached rooms with a condition that the former would be landlords to the latter.
The landlords are said to have been given seven year leases after which they would be issued title deeds and were authorised by council to charge R350 monthly rental for the two outside rooms.
They were instructed not to extend the properties until such time that they have been issued title deeds. The tenants said they were given five year leases with the hope that government would have built them their own homes thereafter.
This, they said, was done with an unwritten promise that they would be relocated next year to new housing developments planned for Modderfontein and other areas. These developments have not materialised as yet.
After several months of occupation, tenants then objected to this arrangement through several petitions to the city council which were ignored. Tempers started boiling when the landlords demanded payments from tenants which were not forthcoming.
Democratic Alliance councillor Shadrack Mkhonto then intervened and sought to find a solution and create peace among the warring parties to no avail. Council was also roped in with no resolutions.
Landlords too had their own petitions to enable them to enforce the rentals and to evict defaulting tenants despite both having similar social and economic challenges. They are said to have recently resubmitted another petition to enable them to evict tenants whose lease periods have, or are soon to, lapse.
A tenant whose large family shares the two rooms with one another said they were under incessant threat of eviction despite not defaulting on payments.
Some tenants have also become landlords, as they have shipped out and rented out both rooms for R1 000. This has further complicated the situation. The housing dispute was at one time taken to the office of the public protector for investigation.
Mkhonto said a potential physical clash among residents was looming and should be averted. “I have prioritised the matter for urgent attention at this week’s council meeting.”
He said the public protector had referred the dispute to the Gauteng Housing Tribunal which promised a resolution but this was in vain. “Also, the department of housing conducted an audit to determine any anomalies with the allocations, with no feedback so far and further fueled the tensions.
“With many of the tenants’ leases lapsing at the end of June, I shudder to think what will happen if no urgent resolution is found,” said a worried Mkhonto.
A landlord who claimed not to be charging her tenants, said the whole saga was government’s fault and it should be resolved urgently. “Its unfair for me to charge people struggling economically for government accommodation I received for free,” she said.
