Question NW1469 to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation
24 July 2020 - NW1469
Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation
(1)Whether her department has conducted any investigations into the sale of RDP houses by officials of her department to persons who do not qualify for the specified houses; if not, why not; if so, (2) what (a) number of officials have been arrested for selling RDP houses in the past two years and (b) measures has she put in place to prevent this from happening?
Reply:
(1) The Department of Human Settlements is not aware, nor has it received reports of any of its officials that engage in the selling of BNG houses to persons who do not qualify or meet the housing subsidy criteria.
(2) (a) Falls away.
(b) Section 10A of the Housing Act 107 of 1997 contains a specific clause referred to as the Restriction on voluntary sale of state-subsidised housing which restricts beneficiaries of subsidised or RDP houses from selling or alienating their dwellings or serviced sites for a period of eight (8) years. In a case where a beneficiary is relocating to another provinces, they may surrender the property to the relevant Provincial Department of Human Settlements who shall take ownership thereof and the previous owner will be allowed to reapply for a new subsidised housing opportunity on arrival at the preferred province.
In addition, the Department of Human Settlements has a dedicated Special Investigations Directorate that works with law enforcement agencies and other government departments to deal with all matters related to fraud and corruption. It is therefore suggested that the Honourable Member provides me with the information for further investigation.