The City of Ekurhuleni has warned the public about scammers who are soliciting money from residents claiming to put them ahead of the city’s waiting list for serviced stands.
The city’s MMC for Human Settlements, Lesiba Mpya said the scammers claim that they have authority to allocate houses and serviced stands, and in some incidents impersonate him.
Mpya said the city is investigating cases where people have been defrauded.
“There are scammers impersonating me and charging residents R5 000 for serviced stands. I assure residents that serviced stands and RDP (government subsidy) houses are not for sale and my office is not charging anyone for land allocation or housing units.”
The MMC said the RDP housing and serviced stands allocation is conducted through community consultative process wherein city officials and ward councillors visit rightful beneficiaries in their communities to inform them of stages of allocations.
Serviced Stands Programme
Mpya explained that the Serviced Stands Programme is aimed at reducing the massive RDP house backlog and to upgrade the lives of those who are low-income earners.
“Unlike the Project Linked Subsidy where a contractor builds houses for beneficiaries; the serviced stands allows beneficiaries to build their own homes.”
The provision of services stands comes with one or more of the following services infrastructure:
- Title deed registration
- Bathroom / toilet structure
- Water and sewer network systems
- Roads and storm water network systems
- A full range of municipal services
The public is urged to continue reporting all housing fraud to the City’s Anti-Fraud and Corruption hotline on 0800 102 201. – SAnews.gov.za
