The beneficiary of a stand in Extension 9 may have to wait much longer to get her wish.
South African National Civic Organisation’s (Sanco) regional chair, Magugudi Beauty Pheto, contacted the Herald to try and assist Brenda Mothudi (60) in retrieving her allocated stand in Ikageng, In 2016, Brenda was allocated the stand in Ext. 9 but, on 15 March 2019, she noticed it had already been occupied. She provided the Herald with documentation from 2016, proving that the stand in Ext. 9 was, indeed, hers. Upon knowing her stand had been occupied, she had been to the municipality countless times to enquire but did not get the answers she needed.
The Herald then went to the alleged stolen stand and found the occupant, Kelebogile Magapong (38). Like Brenda, Kelebogile also provided documentation from 2019, confirming that she legally occupies the land.
According to the J.B. Marks communications manager, Mr William Maphosa, a list of approximately 1,020 beneficiaries was placed at the municipal buildings’ notice board in 2016. The list was of those who would be considered for stand allocation in Ikageng, Ext. 9. Each beneficiary would get an SMS when the stands were being allocated. However, only around 545 stands were available, meaning there were more applicants than the stands on offer.
Some beneficiaries who received allocations delayed occupying their properties as the area did not have electricity at the time. This led to illegal land occupation in the area. Later, when the beneficiaries were allocated stands legally and according to correct procedures, challenges arose. Double allocations resulted from the stands being occupied illegally.
In 2019, the Office of the Mayor conducted a verification process in the area and no one was allowed to take occupation until the process was concluded. In the end, about 32 stands had still not been occupied.
To address the challenge of double allocations, the municipality advertised in the local newspaper in May 2019. It set time frames within which all beneficiaries who had received allocation letters should occupy their stands. Beneficiaries whose stands were already occupied were advised to visit the municipality, where they would be placed back on the waiting list.
The advertisement warned that if the beneficiaries missed the deadline, all the allocation letters issued in 2016 would be regarded as null and void.
When the deadline lapsed, the mayor’s office recommended that the 32 vacant stands in the verification report should be allocated to the Ward 12 beneficiaries who had visited the municipality and been re-entered on the waiting list.
Brenda claims not to have received the above information and says no one ever updated her on the several occasions she went to the municipality. Brenda also argues that applying for a stand is a process and, should she do so again, she would have to wait years before she is granted one.
