Allegations of corruption in the Nuwe Begin housing project in Blue Downs need to be properly investigated said over 100 residents of nearby Nkqubela informal settlement in TR Section, Khayelitsha.
The Nkqubela residents marched to Blue Downs to protest against 36 of their number having been approved to receive houses at Nuwe Begin, only to find the houses they were allocated were already occupied.
The beneficiaries believe their houses were sold for R1 500 to foreigners and people from other communities.
Beneficiary Thandazile Mhleli, 35, said he was approved to receive a house in the Nuwe Begin housing project.
"For six years I had been living in TR section waiting for a house, but now that I was approved it was given to someone else. First we were told that people with disabilities and old age will be moved first, but there are young people owning houses here," said Mhleli.
Another beneficiary, Ntombokuqala Vazi, 56, said even though elderly and disabled people were supposed to be moved first, he still lived in a wetland.
"I'm disabled but I'm still living in TR, with my papers proving that I have a house here. We want the minister of human settlement to investigate this matter," he said.
Beneficiary Nosivuyise Mhletywa said her approved house has someone else living in it.
"I went to my house after I got a letter stating that I was approved, but I found someone else living there. That person has no proof that she owns my house. She told me that she was put in that house by Simon van Wyk," said Mhletywa.
But van Wyk, who is contracted by the provincial Department of Human Settlements and is in charge of relocating people to Nuwe Begin, said allegations of corruption were "a lie".
"The people I relocated were approved by leaders of the project, including ward councillors."
He said if there was any corruption, ward councillors were to be blamed.
Residents said their concern is that they will never receive their houses.
The residents who marched to Blue Downs handed a memorandum to Human Settlement Department spokesperson Zalisile Mbali, who promised to arrange a meeting with community leaders and Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela.
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