Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane was a no-show as irate people who believe they are beneficiaries of RDP houses marched to her office in Tshwane on Wednesday.
The angry marchers hail from various parts of the Gauteng Province and opine that there has been corruption in the way they have been deprived an opportunity to be given government-sponsored RDP houses.
Spurred on by the song “Asinavalo kulento siyenzayo,” about 200 of them sang and toyi-toyied to Simelane’s office, only for her to fail to appear and meet them.
The Fiyela movement were joined by National Social Ills movement including elderly people.
The protesting crowd marched from Burgers Park to the offices of Minister Simelane and made it clear that they were not there to hand over a memorandum but to have a meeting with the Minister and demand answers from her.
After waiting for a long time for the Minister to show up and then realising that she would not come to meet them, they walked away dejectedly and accused the Minister of being a liar; this as she had promised to meet with them today (Wednesday).
National Coordinator of National Social Ills movement Caswell Tlou told Tshwane Talks that last year on 17 October they handed a memorandum to the Minister’s office and returned in January 2025 to ask for a meeting with Minister Simelane.
“The Minister’s officials tried to discourage us from coming here today but we did so as our parents and grandparents are the ones who sent us here to come and meet the Minister and demand answers from her directly regarding the shenanigans surrounding the awarding of RDP houses throughout the province of Gauteng,” he said.
“Many of our parents and grandparents have been waiting for 29 years now to be allocated houses for which they have registered way back in 1996 and that is too much now,” he said.
“If these politicians want to play games with our lives, then let it be so, but I promise them that from now on no Minister or MEC will be allowed to enter our townships for any purpose whatsoever, until they investigate their own officials who have fraudulently sold RDP houses to undeserving people,” he fumed.
Another marcher Zama Duma (58) told Tshwane Talks that she registered for an RDP house way back in 1996 on 8 August, and that each time she goes to enquire about the progress of her being awarded a house at the local municipality offices in Kopanong the computer merely shows that she is still on the waiting list for an RDP house.
“I am very disappointed with this government, there is so much corruption, undeserving people like foreigners who have not registered for RDP houses today have RDP houses at the expense of us South Africans, and I believe that the white man’s government was better because we would be having houses if the white man was still in charge of this country,” she said.
Granny Peggy Senosha (69) told Tshwane Talks that she went to the housing department near Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto to make enquires regarding an RDP house for which she has registered in 1996 but was appalled when the officials there told her to pop out R3000 before she could be allotted an RDP house.
“These government officials take taxpayers’ money under the pretext that they are going to use it to build RDP houses, but once those RDP houses have been completed, they make U-turn and inform us that the houses are meant for rental purposes and are no longer free RDP houses,” said an incensed elderly man who was among the marching brigades.
Copy of memorandum:
