• Berenise Mosepa says she was removed from the housing list because her jailed husband applied under their joint marriage.
• Gauteng’s housing department says it can only build 7,500 houses for 290,000 approved applicants this year.
Berenise Mosepa has worked hard her whole life but is still without a home.
The 51-year-old cleaner from Gauteng says she has lost all hope of getting an RDP house because of a decision made more than 25 years ago.
In 1998, her husband applied for a government house. They were married in community of property, so the application included both of them.
But two years later, he was arrested and jailed. He has now spent nearly 15 years in and out of prison.
“I went to the housing department to check our application and they told me I was removed from the list because my husband is a convicted criminal,” she said.
Officials advised her to divorce him and reapply. But she has not seen him in 11 years and does not know how to find him.
Even if she does reapply, she was told the process could take another 20 years.
She works as a cleaner for a housing developer but cannot afford her own home.
“I have accepted that I will die without a home for my children and grandchildren,” she said.
Gauteng’s human settlement MEC, Tasneem Motara, said the department is dealing with a huge backlog.
She said the department must spend 40% of its yearly budget on people who applied between 1996 and 1999.
“We do not have the money to build houses for the 290,000 approved applicants. We only have enough for 7,500 houses across the whole province,” she said.
Motara added that the struggling economy means many people rely on state housing.
“People apply for houses every day. The backlog is growing faster than our budget,” she said.
Pictured above: Westonaria Borwa mega project
Image source: Palesa Matlala
