Hopefuls call dibs on incomplete RDP homes

Some residents in Olievenhoutbosch have become so desperate to get their promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses, they have moved into an incomplete building without electricity, water or window glass, rather than risk losing the property.

Units which do have windows are covered with anything from old school textbooks to newspapers and curtains. Names, symbols or numbers are painted or spray-painted on the doors.

Far in the distance, behind one of the flat buildings, there is an informal shop selling cigarettes and sweets under a net. Passers-by don’t know much about the drama of the RDP flats, and residents also don’t seem keen to talk about it.

“People living here, live under risk,” a young man said.

An inside view of the RDP flats in Olievenhoutbosch that are being occupied before the construction has been finalised, 1 March 2021, Centurion. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Inside one of the units, The Citizen met two women sitting on a carpet in what should be the living room, eating bread and slap chips for lunch. They agreed to talk on condition anonymity.

“I have applied for my RDP house in 1999, and I am still waiting,” said one.

When she inquired about her house in 2016, she was told she had a unit in Extension 27, but a few months later the unit was taken from under her nose.

So she said she decided to move in this time to ensure it didn’t get hijacked again.

Only a handful of Olievenhoutbosch residents had benefitted from RDP housing in the street.

Provincial police spokesman Captain Mavela Masondo said three incidents had been reported there.

Masondo said on 20 February, a victim had sustained minor injuries from a bullet, and “the same day, another man was pushed from the third floor by unknown suspects. A case of attempted murder was opened”.

Then yesterday, a woman was allegedly shot.

Police have intensified police visibility in the area,” he said.

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