Housing register chaos

Many residents who have waited for years to get houses at the Kimberley-based Sol Plaatje Municipality are crying foul after their names were allegedly removed from the housing register and waiting list.

Now, Sol Plaatje mayor Mangaliso Matika has been called to account for the approximately 25 000 residents who applied for houses, but whose names are no longer on the waiting list.

The Democratic Alliance is taking the matter to the council.

The DA’s Reinette Liebenberg said Matika must be held accountable.

She said she had reason to believe the municipality failed to include its waiting list into the centralised register at the department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs, and that the municipality’s decision to declare its old waiting list as null and void, was “incredibly unfair”.

“The truth is that inefficiency and incompetency within the human settlement committee, coupled with a lack of transparency and the ad hoc allocation of housing, largely to those with connections, is jeopardising the chances of a better life for thousands of Kimberley residents.

“Sol Plaatje Municipality needs to embark on a massive public awareness campaign to tell housing hopefuls of their lot and give them the opportunity to resubmit their names,” Liebenberg said.

Municipal spokesperson Sello Matsie, when approached for comment, said he was busy and would comment later.

He was not available by the time of going to press.