Residents in need of an RDP house must submit their names to their ward councillors along with identification documents, says Makana spokesperson Thandy Matebese.
He was responding to queries raised by township residents complaining about the state of housing. Makana Municipality does not build houses, he says. This is done by the provincial and national departments.
Residents in need of an RDP house must submit their names to their ward councillors along with identification documents, says Makana spokesperson Thandy Matebese.
He was responding to queries raised by township residents complaining about the state of housing. Makana Municipality does not build houses, he says. This is done by the provincial and national departments.
The municipality makes the forms available and assists in collecting the names of the applicants. The names are then sent to the Department of Housing in Bisho and from there they sent to the regional office in Port Elizabeth.
The screening process is done in Bisho and service providers like water and electricity are appointed by and accountable to Bisho.
Applicants must meet the requirements to qualify for an RDP house. The RDP house allocation is done on an income scale. So applicants who earn between zero and R3000 a month can qualify for 100% subsidy.
They will be given a plot, a house and all the services that go with it, says Matebese. ‘The more you earn, the less your subsidy becomes,’ he says.
Once residents have occupied their new houses an indigent support policy subsidises services if the home owner earns between zero rand and the equivalent of an old age grant, which is just over R1000 a month.
To apply for the indigent support home owners must apply at the indigent office in the finance office in High Street. Residents must re-apply every year, because the financial conditions of people might improve in a years’ time.
The indigent support policy provides a certain amount of water and electricity free for successful applicants. The first 50 kilolitres of water is free, but anything after that must be paid for.
‘The limit has been proven to be sufficient for a family for a month’s supply,’ says Matebese. Luyolo Nogxabela, the municipality’s Joza housing unit spokesperson, says last year the lists were put up in April and November. He says the lists are easily accessible and there for all to see.
Matebese says they try to make the process as transparent as possible. Committee meetings are held in which residents are told to register, and there they are given the lists so they can see who is on the list.
‘This makes it quite difficult to manipulate the list,’ he says.House allocation, however, does not happen on first come, first serve basis, but according to whether one meets the criteria, says Matebese. A person who is number one on the list can earn more than a person who is lower down on the list.
The person who earns the least will get helped first. The allocation of plots and houses is a long process, and it depends largely on available funding from the Department of Housing.
Matebese says the national government has approved funds to fix RDP houses that are not up to scratch. This rectification of RDP houses by the department of housing is taking place throughout the country, he says.
