A group of Motherwell residents walked out of an Eastern Cape human settlements department meeting on Monday which was being held to verify beneficiaries of government subsidies to help pay off their bonded properties.
The issues have been dragging on for decades.
Other members of the group who had completed their payments were also frustrated that they had not received their title deeds, years after settling the full amount.
At the heart of the dispute is a financial services provider that was brought in by the national government more than 30 years ago to help hundreds of residents who were struggling to keep up with payments and faced losing their homes.
Ward 59 councillor Bulelani Matenjwa had to leave an ANC event to speak to the group who attempted to disrupt the meeting at the Motherwell Sports Centre.
Matenjwa would not allow the group to submit a petition and threatened to call the police should they disrupt the meeting.
In the petition, which has also been sent to the provincial human settlements department, the residents wrote that after democracy in 1994 the consequences of apartheid remained in the housing sector.
“To address this, a record of understanding was concluded in 1995,” the petition says.
“One of the solutions conceptualised in the record of understanding was the relocation assistance, which applied to borrowers who could not afford to pay the mortgage loans for their homes.
“Under these circumstances, relocation assistance was applicable, which meant that the borrower no longer had an obligation to pay lenders as the relevant provincial department would relocate the borrower to an RDP house.
“Once relocated, [the financial services provider] could sell the property without the need to go through the legal process.
“In situ relocation assistance, ultimately introduced by the National Housing Code of 2000, meant that the borrowers remained in their existing property; they did not have to be relocated to an RDP house as an alternative to relocation assistance under certain specified conditions.
“As [the financial services provider] could no longer sell the property, the provincial government became responsible for payment as the principal debtor because the payment obligation of the borrower was delegated to the provincial government from the moment in situ relocation assistance became relevant.
“The borrowers, who had participated or were affected by the bond boycotts, have been unfairly discriminated against as they have still not received their unencumbered title deeds.”
Human settlements MEC Siphokazi Lusithi’s spokesperson Siya Mdodi did not respond to questions.
Addressing the residents before the walkout, Matenjwa said the delays in resolving the housing issues were because there was no dedicated funding to pay the subsidies.
“There were mass evictions in Motherwell in 2003 because people couldn’t pay their bonds, many had lost their jobs, and the government stepped in after the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) sounded the alarm.
“This was a nationwide problem.
“Over the years, people were assisted, and 188 remained, according to our records.
“We held this meeting to verify what kind of assistance they require because some in the group were supposed to have their houses taken away before the department stepped in.
“In some instances, the homeowners died and whoever still lives there can’t afford to pay, while others finished paying but are waiting for their title deeds.
“That’s what we are here to do.
“We have done this verification in Kariega, but we realised not everyone participated, hence we are here again.
“We met this group from the forum who said they have a list of beneficiaries, which we don’t know about because, as councillors, we were not involved in that.”
Speaking on behalf of the group, resident Mongezi Gxekwa said he had bought his house in 1988.
He had finished paying his bond, but still had no title deed to show for it.
“After 20 years of paying, we are being sent from pillar to post,” he said.
“The last time they issued title deeds, only 10 people got theirs.
“We were so disappointed to leave empty-handed after all these years.
“We are tired of this treatment. People who got free RDP houses have proof of ownership, while those of us who paid don’t.”
The Herald
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