Johannesburg - Spiralling invasions and the illegal occupation of RDP houses in Gauteng have prompted the provincial human settlements department to speed up the allocation.
This was the reaction of Gauteng Human Settlements spokesperson Keith Khoza after the provincial department, under MEC Uhuru Moiloa, undertook a massive delivery of houses ahead of the May 8 national elections.
On Wednesday, Moiloa was in Clayville outside Tembisa in Ekurhuleni, where he handed several houses over to “qualifying applicants”.
He also delivered houses at the Elijah Barayi Village in Carletonville this week.
But Khoza was adamant that these initiatives had nothing to do with the election.
“Giving houses to deserving and qualifying beneficiaries is part of the department’s mandate and it has been doing so since its inception. Another key motivator is to ensure they are not invaded or vandalised.
“Issuing houses as soon as they are completed allows the department to avoid incurring legal costs as a result of it obtaining eviction orders against those occupying the houses illegally. We also do not have to hire security companies to protect the empty houses.”