My name was linked to an RDP house and now I can't apply for my own. What can I do?

The long answer

I have a number of questions: 

How was your name linked? Were you named as a dependent in your parents’ application? Did you apply together with a partner who got the house but you did not benefit? When an application for an RDP house is made, the names of both partners are then added onto a database. If they separate from their partner whose name appears in the database, they will not be granted another subsidy with a new partner because you can only get one subsidy.

Did someone else use your ID to make a fraudulent application?

You would need to get to the bottom of the mystery of how exactly your name was linked to an RDP house before you could make an application for your own RDP house.

Perhaps the first thing to do is to go to the municipality where the RDP house is, which your name is linked to. Take your ID and any other relevant information and ask them to look up this house and see how your name was linked to it, who it was issued to and what you can do about it. One of the documents required for an application for an RDP house is an ID. Depending on your province or municipality, you would then be registered on the National Housing Needs Register or your Municipal Housing Demands Database. Both of these serve as a waiting list.

You can phone Housing Enquiries Hotline: 0800 146 873.

If none of your enquiries come to anything, you could make a sworn affidavit detailing the efforts you have made to discover how your name was linked to the RDP house (giving dates of visits to the municipality, and the names of the officials you spoke to and what they said to you). You could send this affidavit to the MEC for Housing (Human Settlements) in your province and ask the MEC to help you. 

In each province the MEC must take note of complaints which have not been resolved by the municipality. The MEC can instruct the municipality to resolve it and has the power to reverse any unfair decision made by the municipality.

As we don’t know which province you live in, the following list of contact numbers for housing enquiries in the different provinces may be helpful:

Gauteng: 011 355 4000

Western Cape: 079 769 1207 (Please Call Me)

Eastern Cape: 043 711 9901/2/3

KwaZulu-Natal: 033 392 6400 or 033 3365300

North West: 018 388 5403

Limpopo: 015 284 5000

Northern Cape: 053 830 9422

Free State: 051 405 3883

Mpumalanga: 013 766 6087

If you are not helped, there is also an ombudsman for Human Settlements. An ombudsman is an official who must take up complaints against public and government organisations. These are the contact details:

Email: ombudsman@dhs.gov.za

Call Centre: 0800 1(HOUSE) 46873 (weekdays 8h00 – 15h30)

You could also approach the Black Sash which gives free paralegal advice:

Email: help@blacksash.org.za

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

Wishing you the best,
Athalie