7 000+ in RDP housing scam

2008-04-02 21:23

Johannesburg - More than 7 000 civil servants have acquired RDP houses illegally, the Housing Department said on Wednesday.

Simphiwe Damane-Mkhosana, head of an anti-corruption unit in the housing department, said: "We have 7 363 pending cases of fraudulently acquired RDP houses by government officials throughout the country.

"We are still investigating the cases, but we intend to prosecute all the individuals who benefited."

She said the officials were getting the houses by providing false information in the application forms.

"Some of them said they were unemployed when filling in the forms while others mis-declared (sic) their income to fit the criteria, so they could qualify for the houses," said Damane-Mkhosana.

Some of the civil servants were renting the houses out to tenants while others were living in them, she said.

"We discovered that some of these officials own about two houses in different provinces."

The bigger the province, more cases were uncovered according to the department.

Gauteng province had the highest number, KwaZulu-Natal was second, followed by the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and the rest of the other provinces depending on their population.

Seven teachers guilty

Damane-Mkhosana said seven teachers, one of them a principal, were found guilty of fraud in Vryburg on Tuesday.

The seven were sentenced to five years' in prison suspended for five years on condition they paid back the amount at which the houses were valued and not commit the same offences within the same period. They were also given an option of a R20 000 fine.

"We are expecting more cases because since yesterday I have been receiving calls from people who are prepared to report more officials who have benefited from the houses."

Damane-Mkhosana said the department was compiling a list of the people involved and this would be sent to various departments.

- SAPA