South Africa: Alexandra Residents March Against Housing Corruption
by Alexandra Vukazenzele Crisis Committee Friday, Apr 18 2008, 12:39pm
phone: 00 27 (0) 84 2931 512 or 00 27 (0) 72 1737 268

The Alexandra Vukuzenzele Crisis Committee (AVCC) together with other Civil Society Organisations will be marching to the Extension 7 RDP houses on the 19th April 2008 to demand that the houses must be allocated to the poor residents of Alexandra. They residents will be gathering at Ghanda Center, 1st Avenue at 10h00 and then proceed to Extension 7 RDP houses to expose housing corruption in the area. They have marched on many occasions as the AVCC to highlight the housing problem in Alexandra but their efforts have failed because the housing officials have turned a blind eye to corruption.

There are corruption problems in the area, where illegal activities have been happening and AVCC has requested the housing department officials to assist them in fighting corruption. Housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane has launched Operation Ziveze yet many 1996 housing subsidy applicants are not given first priority by the housing scams in Alexandra. The residents therefore demand that there must be a new inquiry into the Extension 7 RDP houses.

Many of the community members have been arrested on several occasions in Extension 7 for fighting corruption by the officials and residents have been given harsh sentences for occupying the houses. It is the right of the community to fight for the houses as they were promised by the government in 1994 that there shall be housing for all. The community demands are: a transparent process for the allocation of houses in Extension 7, that all cases against the residents must be dropped, that all the corrupt housing officials must be arrested and given harsh sentences but not the poor people who fight for houses, civil society organisations must be part of the Alexandra Housing Forum and that the people must be given free adequate houses