The City urges residents to remember that they do not need to pay for a housing opportunity and to be aware of scammers. Beneficiaries who are asked to pay for an opportunity are being scammed. Residents may report suspicious or illegal activity to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for their investigation. Read more below:
‘If you are asked to pay to register on the City’s Housing Needs Register for a government housing Breaking New Ground (BNG) opportunity or a plot of City-owned land, you are being scammed. If the opportunity is advertised as a ‘RDP house’, you are being scammed. If a BNG house has been built within the past eight years and the new homeowner tries to sell it, you are being scammed. In government housing, there is a restrictive clause prohibiting the sale of subsidy housing within the first eight years of ownership. This is in an effort to reduce the risk of beneficiaries moving back to informality, as the City would like to improve the living conditions of beneficiaries.
‘These types of cases happen far too often and impact the most desperate, vulnerable residents. If you think that you might have been the victim of a housing scam, please report it to the SAPS for investigation.
'We have been made aware of a number of these cases taking place in areas across the metro and we encourage our residents and beneficiaries to also contact the City should they be concerned this is the case. Qualifying beneficiaries are registered on the Housing Needs Register at no cost to them. The Register, which is protected, updated and audited, is necessary to prevent queue-jumping and to provide opportunities in a fair, ordered manner. This is important given the acute need for housing opportunities across the metro,’ said the City’s Acting Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Alderman James Vos.
Residents are encouraged to visit this link to update their details on the Housing Needs Register: https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/HWL2012Online/
Anonymous tip-offs welcomed to help the City protect its projects and operations and residents are encouraged to call: 0800 1100 77
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Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town