Mandela Park Backyarders Press Statement
23 July 2011

Backyarders present clear evidence of corruption in Mandela Park in letter to Ward 94 Councillor

(A version of this statement was originally sent to Ward 94 Cllr Patrick Mngxunyeni and REC Sectretary Vuyiso Tyhalisisu)

Housing Allocation Concern

As Mandela Park Backyarders we have observed the ongoing housing development taking place in our own community since it was unblocked in 2009. Since the development started it has been characterised by lack of accountability and transparency. Moreover we had the imposition of a steering committee mandated to this task without the consultation of our community. This led to the allocation of houses to some individuals because they were related or sharing the same surname as the genuine beneficiary. Many of the houses have also been allocated in an irregular and/or corrupt manner.

Urgent Interference to Disband ward 97 steering committee

As mentioned, the above steering committee is not known in Mandela Park and branded with individuals who have lost credibility in our community due to lack of accountability.

As we are committed to work together to build a good working community, we also request your urgent intervention to recall the unknown/ghost steering committee of ward 97.

Some of these challenges were cooked by MEC (Bonginkosi Madikizela) with the assistance of ward 97 councillor Mthwalo Mkhutshwana. These are just some of the pressing issues that resulted in us building our own houses or taking the empty land in Mandela Park.

We have informed our local councillors and executives within the regional branch of the ANC that we have conducted our own verification of Mandela Park houses which has found 12 RDP houses to be irregularly or corruptly allocated. This is an incomplete list but relevant as a way of showing that those in government are not able to manage these housing projects fairly:

21-052: The owner was never seen. The house is empty.
21-072: The owner stays in 19 section where he is renting. House is empty.
21-063: Police officer resides in the house even though police officer's salaries make them ineligible to receive RDP houses.
21-173: The owner was never seen. The house is empty.
21-166: The owner was never seen. The house is empty.
21-168: The owners were never seen. The house is empty.
21-176: A foreigner stays in the house even though that person is ineligible for an RDP house.
21-710: A Ward Development Forum member residing in the house. We think he got it through political connections.
20-781: Someone named Nomamfengu who worked for managing agent Thubelisha Homes claims to own the house. We think that she got this house through her work at Thubelisha.
20-795: The owner, Nomahlubi, has never stayed in the house. Instead, a 15-year-old boy stays there.
20-477: An RDP house is built on a bond house plot, meaning there was a bond house there before. This house is now owned by the foreigner who is ineligible for an RDP house.
20-810: The true owner of the house was never found in the beneficiary hunt.

For further enquiries regarding the said matter please do contact us:
Chairperson - Silulami @ 0714331101/0736200781

Spokesperson – Luzuko @ 0739662188

Organiser - Khaya @ 0780241683