My mother's RDP was given to someone she doesn't know in another province. They're wrongly listed as her spouse. What can we do?

The long answer

This is certainly a strange business. If your mother was married when she made her application for an RDP house, her spouse’s name and ID would be on the application as well as hers. If she was not married, but had dependants, the names and copies of birth certificates of those dependants would be on the application. When an application is made for an RDP house, the person or the couple making the application has to hand in certified copies of their dependents’ birth certificates to the municipal office.

She should go back to the municipality where she made her application, taking her C Form (the copy of her application) , her ID and the birth certificates of her dependents, if she listed them on her application at the time. She should ask the municipality to bring out her file and see what names were listed as dependants or as a spouse. She should ask how it can happen that a person in another province, whom she does not know, can be awarded her RDP house? The municipality has a constitutional duty to assist people who come to them with problems to do with RDP houses, so your mother has a right to their help. She should make it clear that she wants the house she applied for. She should take careful note of the date and the name of the official she speaks to. 

If the official is not helpful, she should take her complaint to a more senior official in the municipality. If that too does not help, she could refer the matter to the housing MEC (Human Settlements) in her province and ask him to assist. 

The MEC in each province has the right to look into individual cases and decide what should be done. She could phone the Housing Enquiries Hotline at 0800 146 873, to get the contact details of the MEC for Housing in her province.

Your mother could also ask for advice and help from a paralegal organisation like the Black Sash. These are their contact details:

• The Black Sash

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm) 

Please Call Me: 079 835 7179

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

Tel (national office): 021 686 6952

Helpline: 072 66 33 73, 072 633 3739 or 063 610 1865.

If legal action is advised, she could approach Legal Aid, which is a means-tested organisation that must help people who can’t afford a lawyer.

• Legal Aid 

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm) 

Please Call Me: 079 835 7179

Wishing you the best,
Athalie