The residents of Inxiweni RDP houses in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, continue to suffer without the security of tenure as the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements delays in issuing them with title deeds.
The rightful beneficiaries of Inxiweni RDP housing units were allocated to their houses in 2009 and to date, they have not yet been issued with title deeds.
This has severely affected the residents as they do not have any documents to use as evidence of proof of ownership of the housing units that they live in.
This information was revealed to the DA during an oversight inspection in the area.
In some cases, the rightful beneficiaries have since passed away, and they left their children and grandchildren who are living in fear as they do not have any documents to prove that their spouse owns the property.
Some residents claim that the previous ANC-led Ekurhuleni government informed them that these housing units belong to the municipality, not the rightful beneficiaries.
Please see the images here, here, and here.
Delays in issuing these rightful beneficiaries with title deeds opens the system to corruption as some beneficiaries claim that they have been issued with new house numbers that are different from the initial numbers that they were given when they were allocated into these housing units.
The DA will be directly engaging with the Gauteng MEC of Human Settlement and Infrastructure, Lebohang Maile, to ascertain why the rightful beneficiaries of these housing units have not yet been issued with title deeds. The ANC government needs to understand that every title deed delayed is dignity denied to the residents of this province and the DA will write to the Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka to request her to investigate the matter.
Title deeds play an integral part in redressing the injustices of the past and empowering families for generations to come.
We will continue to demand that MEC Maile’s department must issue title deeds to these beneficiaries as they are being denied the security of tenure. Where the DA governs in municipalities across the province, we ensure that all the beneficiaries of housing projects are issued with title deeds so that they can have full ownership of their properties for the benefit of their families.