The short answer
If the house had been awarded to your parent before they passed away, you should be able to get the house (unless they wrote a will saying otherwise).
The whole question
Dear Athalie
My mother applied for an RDP house in 1996 but got too sick at the time she was supposed to sign and get the key. She soon passed away. The C form recording her application for the RDP house has gone missing. My siblings and I don't have a stable home - is there any way we can get her house?
The long answer
If she was registered for the house but it had not yet been awarded to her – if, in other words she was still on the waiting list when she died – she could not leave it to you, nor could you take her place on the waiting list. The children would then need to make their own applications for RDP houses.
But assuming that the house was awarded to her, you would need to find out whether title deeds were issued for the house in your mother’s name. You would have to go to your nearest Deeds Office in person, with the ERF number of the house [not the street address] and your mother’s ID and death certificate if you have it and ask them to check if title deeds were issued to your mother. You would need to pay R17 for the search and they can give you a copy if there are title deeds. With their 2024 increases in fees, they will charge R159 for a copy of the Title Deeds.
If there were no title deeds issued, you could go to the municipality where your mother made her application for the RDP house. Even if the C Form has gone missing, the municipality where your mother made her 1996 application for the RDP house should have a copy. You could go to that municipality, taking your ID and birth certificate and explain that you were one of the dependants in her application. The names of these dependents are listed in the application by the municipality.
The dependents listed in the application generally do stand to inherit the house when the owner dies, because the government’s policy is that RDP houses should stay in the family.
If your mother died without making a will, she is said to have died intestate, and the Intestate Succession Act of 1987 will apply in this way: if there is a surviving spouse and children, the property will be left to him and their children. If there is no surviving spouse, the children will inherit.
You could ask the municipality to help you to get the house. If you find that they are not helpful, you could ask the MEC of Housing in your province to help you. The MEC has the power to award a house if they decide that you have the right to it.
If you find that your mother did not have a title deed, you can bring an application to the high court to ask for a declaratory order that the house be transferred into your name.
You could ask Legal Aid to assist you to make the application.
Legal Aid is a means-tested organisation, which means that they must assist people who cannot afford a lawyer. These are their contact details:
0800 110 110 (Monday to Friday 7AM - 7PM)
079 835 7179 (Please Call Me)
communications2@legal-aid.co.za
Wishing you the best,
Athalie
Answered on Aug. 13, 2024, 1:06 p.m.
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