The RDP stand in Musina/Nancefield Extension 8, officially allocated to him by the provincial department of local government and housing (DLGH), boasts quite a sizeable modern house, but Mavungu Patrick Ngale and his family are still homeless.

His name had been on the waiting list since 1994. He received the stand number and allocation notice from the department some four years ago, but, even though he went to the municipality to sign for the material for his RDP house, his house was never built. In its place, a small mansion was erected, but not for him and his family…

We visited him on an empty space next to the fence of the Musina municipal refuse dump, where, he said, he was told by a municipal representative that he would be allowed to erect a shack for him and his family. In the meantime, they are lodging with a Good Samaritan nearby, who took pity on the deprived family.

How did all this happen? How did he lose the house for which he had waited and prayed for so many years and which had in fact already been officially allocated to him? Who did this to him and his family?

These questions were put in writing to the Musina Municipality’s spokesperson, but weeks later and after several reminders, there is still complete silence from the municipality.

An effort to obtain information about the stand telephonically from an official at the DLGH caused an almost hysterical denial of any knowledge of the case, before the call was unceremoniously ended.

The saga of the specific stand in Musina/Nancefield Extension 8 started when the recipient of the stand, an elderly Mavungu Patrick Ngale, who had never had the opportunity to attend school, was summonsed to the Musina municipal offices to “sign for the material” for his RDP house. He said he was given a form to sign. Being unable to read, he trustingly “signed for the material.”

After that, there was no further communication from the municipality. He said when, after a long silence, he had gone to investigate the progress with the erection of his RDP house, he found that there was no RDP house but a larger dwelling, owned by a complete stranger, who claimed that he had bought the stand from Ngale.

“I did not know the man. I had never seen him before in my life. I had never had any contact or dealings with this stranger,” said Ngale.

He discussed his devastating crisis with people from the residents representative committee (RRC) in Nancefield. A spokesperson for the committee, chairperson Mashudu Ndou, confirmed that the new owner of the stand alleged that he had bought the stand from Ngale.

“A visit to the DLGH in Polokwane and enquiries at the deeds office revealed the shocking truth: The stand was not bought. The new owner had received it by ‘donation’.  The forms Ngale signed  ‘for the material’ were in fact documentation in which the stand was ‘donated’ to a complete stranger,” says Ndou.

“A stranger to Ngale, but not a stranger at all to a certain councillor in the housing portfolio of the municipality,” says Ndou, who also alleges that the specific councillor had in fact initially shared the cosy “RDP” mansion with the new owner.

According to Ndou, the DLGH, suspecting fraudulent dealings, brought the matter to the attention of the Musina mayor, in a written report, also advising disciplinary action against the specific councillor. Written enquiries to both the municipality and the department about the alleged letter remain unanswered.

In the recent spate of sometimes violent demonstrations in Musina against the mayor and the Chief Whip, irregularities regarding housing were a prominent issue. The RRC requested the creation of a task team to listen to and address problems that people have about housing. The mayor’s official written reply to this reads: “An affective (sic) housing unit is attending to all housing needs in this municipality.”

The councillor whose name is linked to the Extension 8 stand saga allegedly remains connected to the mayor's “affective” housing unit.