Department vows to root out corruption

The suspension of six officials from the Alexandra Renewal Programme (ARP), once again demonstrates the department of housing's commitment to fight corruption.

The six officials, 5 community liaison officers and one City of Johannesburg official were suspended after it was found that they had allegedly tried to allocate RDP houses to themselves.

Apparently the suspended officials registered their names on the Alexandra Transit Camp list. In order to be allocated an RDP house an applicant needs to first pass through the Alexandra Transit Facility. These are households dislocated by virtue of the ongoing development in the area.  

The officials were caught out by the joint ARP/community verification process. This verification process vets the names that are approved by the Housing Department against the official lists.

The fact that these officials earn above the required amount (to qualify for an RDP house you must earn between R3500-00) and that they work very closely with the allocation process clearly disqualified them to be beneficiaries of the housing project in Alexandra.

The ARP and the department of housing have made it public on many occasions that two issues that have a potential for conflict between the project and the community include, housing allocations and quality of houses built.

As such the ARP and the department have established close working relationships with key community stakeholders to monitor the process. The suspension of these officials not only indicates that these processes are working, but that the department's anti-corruption measures are also working.

While the investigations are underway to determine whether these officials are guilt or not, it should be noted that department will not tolerate any acts of corruption. The department also urges members of the public to report any act of corruption to the department and the police.

It is through the co-operation with members of the public, police and the department that corruption can be stamped-out thus accelerating the delivery of houses.

Meanwhile, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane has welcomed the arrest of six officials for allegedly selling vacant stands and RDP houses to members of the public in Tshwane.

"I commend the sterling work by the police and Department of Housing Anti-corruption Unit in apprehending the suspects. We remain committed in dealing head on with any act of corruption irrespective of the person's status," said Mokonyane.

The arrest follows months of investigation after receiving complains that RDP houses in Lotus Garden and Mamelodi were either illegally occupied by non beneficiaries or illegally rented out.

The suspects are believed to be members of a syndicate specialling in selling of stands and RDP houses. Their case involves the selling of 24 stands which were sold at R15000-00 each.