‘If you are asked to pay someone to be registered on the Housing Database or to pay for your government housing opportunity, you are being duped. Sadly, these scams often affect our most vulnerable and desperate residents. If you think that you have been the victim of a housing scam, please report it to the South African Police Service for investigation.

‘Periodically we are made aware of such cases across the metro but as a general public service announcement, we encourage our residents and beneficiaries to contact the City should they suspect that they are being taken for a ride. Qualifying beneficiaries are registered on the City’s Housing Database free of charge. The Database, which is protected, updated and audited, is necessary to prevent queue-jumping. This is very important given the acute need for housing opportunities across the metro.

‘We also caution against individuals ‘selling’ City-serviced sites, government housing units or open pieces of land that are not theirs to sell to beneficiaries in the first place. Only the registered owner may sell their property. It is only transferred from one owner to the next through the registration of it at the Deeds Office.

‘City-owned land is also not owned by communities at large or leaders in a particular community. It is owned by the City. Anyone ‘selling’ City-owned property is doing so illegally and many times desperate people pay for land on which they are not allowed to settle. They end up losing everything and they do not get their money back,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi.

The City encourages residents to find out whether they qualify for a subsidised housing opportunity and if so, to apply to register on the Housing Database and if they are already registered, to make sure that their personal details are updated regularly.

‘We do everything in our power to provide interim relief to our residents who are awaiting a housing opportunity and to ensure that there is fairness and transparency in the housing process. But we also need residents to work with us and to take responsibility for what is required of them,’ said Councillor Booi.

Examples of housing scams include:

• asking legitimate beneficiaries to pay money to be placed on the official Housing Database
• asking legitimate beneficiaries to pay money to receive a subsidised housing unit (commonly referred to as a Breaking New Ground (BNG) or RDP house) or serviced site
• ‘selling’ City-owned units, houses or serviced sites
• encouraging residents to settle on land which does not belong to them or that is owned by the City or other government spheres or a private entity
• the illegal ‘sale’ of BNG houses: the National Housing Act restricts the sale or rental of BNG houses within the first eight years following the acquisition of the property by beneficiaries. Where this is done knowingly and with intent, it is fraud. Potential buyers and sellers must make sure that the property is allowed to be sold legally

  
End