What makes them even more angry is the fact that they were told that they don’t qualify for the houses because they already own RDP’s.
The group told the Herald that in 2006/2007 they had applied for RDP houses in the area and at the time they were told that they did not make the list of beneficiaries.
They continued living life as normal until 12 April last year when the executive mayor of Mopani District Municipality, Pule Shai, announced during a community meeting that they will be building more than 70 RDP houses in the area again.
The six hopeful residents were surprised to be told to stay behind after the meeting by Ward 18 councillor, Sophia Mahomane.
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“The councillor gave us a letter which explained that the six of us did not qualify to get a house, because in the Department of Human Settlement’s database indicates that we already own the RDP houses which we applied for in 2006/2007. “We were shocked and disappointed to learn that after all these years other people were occupying our homes.
“We need someone to explain to us how this came about, because the councillor told us that our applications failed and now the department says we were approved all those years ago,” explained one of the disgruntled residents.
According to the resident, they have tried to resolve the matter with Mahomane and they also sent emails to the municipality but to no avail.
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Herald contacted Jonas Mahesu, spokesman for BaPhalaborwa Municipality about the matter.
“The matter is still under investigation and we will give more details as it unfolds.
“The matter was sent to the municipal manager, Irene Moakamela, who also sent it to the Department of Planning and Economic Development,” Mahesu concluded.
