HOMELESS WIDOW SAYS RESTITUTION FAILED HER
A 72-YEAR-OLD widow who is a validated District Six Redevelopment Trust claimant is facing a bleak Christmas without a home, while waiting for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to finish processing her claim for a house in phase 3 of the redevelopment project.
Catherine de Jongh, who was last week evicted from a rented house after a dispute with the landlord and is now living with her grandchild, said the restitution process had failed her.
“The restitution process must give me a place to live. I have been on their list since 2011. I am a pensioner with no husband. Right now I can show you at least four houses in phase 3 of the project that have been empty for five years.
“Meanwhile, others are renting out the houses they were given. That’s not how restitution is meant to work. If you get a house you must stay in it. You didn’t pay a cent for the house and now you want to profit from it. If you don’t want to stay there, give it back so it can go to someone who is in need,” said De Jongh.
“It’s not fair that some people are making money from the restitution process and others like myself are outside, still waiting.”
Speaking on behalf of Wayne Alexander, chief director Western Cape of the Land Claims Commission, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s spokesperson Vuyani Nkasayi said: “All houses for pilot phases 1 and 2 were allocated by 2012 and are considered privately owned. The commission does not have any mandate to be involved in the manner in which owners of the houses conduct their livelihoods and/or households.
“Catherine de Jongh’s claim is still on the outstanding claims list for follow-on phases to be completed. The claim is against the name of her grandparents, which does not make her, although the principal claimant, the only beneficiary to the property that will eventually be allocated.
“The commission’s principal criteria for allocation of houses is date of lodgement. Currently under phase 3, consideration is given to original dispossessed persons who are still alive and who may have lodged their claims later than those who will be allocated a house.
“De Jongh is a claimant, she is however not the original dispossessed individual; as the granddaughter of the originally dispossessed individual (ODI) the family tree of the ODI will determine all the beneficiaries to whom the right in land will be restored. The beneficiaries may then determine how they wish to manage the house/asset they receive.
“The commission is consistent in the manner in which it is following its allocation processes in order to avoid flawed processes. Several other claimants have approached the commission for consideration, and the principles thus have to be applied consistently.”