Pensioner Has to Live in Shack Despite ‘Owning’ RDP House for 17 Years

Bridget Mokhetle holds the title deed to her RDP house which she has not been able to live in for years. Her house, along with 50 others, was illegally occupied around 2008 before the homes could be handed over to the rightful beneficiaries. Now she’s forced to live in a dilapidated shack at Sol Plaatjie informal settlement in Roodepoort.

• A woman from Sol Plaatjie informal settlement in Roodepoort says she’s been forced to live in her dilapidated shack for 17 years.
• This is despite owning an RDP house a couple of metres away.
• Bridget Mokhetle’s house, along with 50 other RDP houses, was illegally occupied around 2008 before being handed over to the rightful beneficiaries.
• Now she lives without essential services like electricity because she is unable to apply for benefits from other housing projects.

When 60-year-old Bridget Mokhetle received paperwork in 2008 that she had been allocated an RDP house in a new project, she was excited to finally move out of her small, weathered shack. But nearly 17 years later, Mokhetle still lives in her shack in the overpopulated Sol Plaatjie informal settlement in Roodepoort.

This is because Mokhetle’s house, along with 50 other RDP houses, was illegally occupied before being handed over to the rightful beneficiaries.

“When they finished building my RDP house, I was told which house was mine and I was excited I would finally have a decent life. But I got the shock of my life when I found out someone invaded my house,” she said.

According to a Corruption Watch report in 2012, of the more than 2,550 houses built in Sol Plaatje between 2007 and 2009, only 2,200 were allocated to the rightful owners.

“Sol Plaatje housing development community liaison officer Joseph Letjoko said some of the houses were invaded because they were left empty for a long time without being allocated, while others had no toilets, pipes, windows or doors due to vandalism,” the report read.

“The municipality should have acted on an order issued by the court in 2010 to evict the invaders. Instead, the mayoral committee had halted the process during the 2011 local elections, saying they could not evict people during elections,” the Corruption Watch report stated.

The settlement where Mokhetle lives has no electricity and the communal taps are a distant walk from her shack. The area is far employment opportunities but is situated near a mining dump frequented by informal miners.

On Tuesday, she showed GroundUp the title deed she received in 2022, despite never having lived in the house. The document was from the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSCHCO) and Motheo Construction Group dated 28 October 2008. Because her subsidy was approved and she’s listed as a homeowner, Mokhetle is not able to apply to benefit from any other housing projects and is therefore forced to live in her old shack.

“For the past four years, I’ve been meeting with Legal Aid to help me access my house, but the process has been slow. When I went to the Human Settlements offices, I got no help. So who are we going to cry to for help?” she asked.

During our short walk to her RDP house, which was still illegally occupied, she pointed out a shack where a fellow pensioner recently died, still without access to his house.

“I don’t want to die without getting my house,” she said. “It’s not safe staying in a shack. I even have bullet holes from years back when illegal miners fought. It’s a miracle I survived,” she added.

Community leader Stanley Mayimela confirmed that about 40 to 50 beneficiaries had received houses which were occupied by a group of people from the same community.

Last week, Mokhetle joined hundreds of community members led by the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) to march through the streets of Roodepoort to the Gauteng Premier’s office. Marchers came from Sol Plaatjie, Matholesville Jerusalema, Leratong, and Skoomplaz informal settlements. They also demanded answers over alleged corruption at a now established Goudrand Mega Project where they claim RDP houses are being sold to people who can afford to buy them.

SANCO spokesperson Justice Ntlali called for the informal settlements in the representative areas to be formalised so they can get basic services. He claims that qualifying people from the surrounding informal settlements were overlooked for the Goudrand project.

Dan Mbovu from the office of the Premier told the protesters: “You have given us a short time to respond to these issues, but we will meet with leaders from other departments and return to you.”

We contacted JOSCHCO who referred us to the City of Johannesburg Human Settlements Department spokesperson Penwell Dlamini. He did not respond to our questions about Mokhetle’s occupied house.

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