More than 200 tenants of Jay Singh housing programme flats are being kicked out every month. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G
Nearly four months after the eThekwini council resolved to give tenants of the “Jay Singh” flats in Phoenix and other areas their title deeds, they are still being evicted by KZN Social Housing and other companies affiliated with Singh, the ANC backer who has since died.
This is despite an ongoing attempt by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to recover more than R400 million paid by companies owned by Singh — Gralio Precast, KZN Social Housing, Woodglaze Holdings and First Metro — in Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) subsidies, which they received irregularly.
The SIU has completed an investigation into the city’s infill housing programme, meant to benefit working class residents of Phoenix and other areas and issued a final report, but it is being kept under wraps by the city administration.
The city is still conducting a feasibility study into giving tenants of the complexes, built on council land with subsidies from the SHRA, title deeds.
Mervyn Govender, chairperson of the Phoenix Residents and Tenants Association, said that in November alone, they had gone to court on behalf of 200 residents who had been evicted, mainly for failing to pay market-related rentals.
The association had an average of 15 to 20 eviction cases before the Verulam magistrate’s court, three days a week.
“Woodglaze and the other companies have made no attempt to slow down on evictions while the city regularises their tenure,” Govender said.
“The court roll at Verulam is clogged with Woodglaze cases. People are finding it extremely difficult and are waiting for their sectional title deed. The city is stalling the process and people are being evicted in the meantime.
“The president and the city are suppressing the SIU report while people are being kicked out of their homes that they are meant to be owning, instead of renting. They need to release the report now and act to stop more and more people from losing their livelihoods.”
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said at the time the SIU handed over the report that the municipality would be allowed to deliberate on its findings before it would be made public.
Govender said that although they had been able to get court orders to have some residents reinstated to their homes, many others had been forced to move in with family and had lost all their belongings.
“There is one lady who is living in her car. Her children are with family in Inanda and elsewhere while we try to get her back into her home. People are suffering while the city drags its feet.”
More than 2 500 flats were built by Singh’s companies as part of eThekwini’s social housing programme, using infill sites for what were meant to be rent-controlled or rent to own homes for people unable to qualify for private sector bonds and earning too much to receive RDP houses.
Singh, a Newlands West bus operator, began funding the ANC in the city and the province from the mid-1990s, securing a share in the consortium of party linked entrepreneurs brought in to take over the municipal bus service.
Singh entered the social housing market through Woodglaze and Gralio, securing subsidies from the SHRA after the infill programme was proclaimed by the city.
In 2013 the Tongaat Mall, being built by Gralio, collapsed, killing two people and injuring 29 others.
About 1 200 of the flats in 11 complexes were transferred to a Section 21 company owned by Singh’s wife, Shireen Annamalay, and his son, Ravi Jagadasen.
After Singh died, the companies fell under their control, along with the flats, collecting rentals for R3 million a month and subsidies from the SHRA.
They also sold a number of the flats on the open market.
In 2014, members of the residents association went to court over rental increases, forcing an investigation that resulted in the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) seizing several complexes over an unlawful payment of R236 million to Woodglaze by the SHRA.
The AFU seized R800 million in assets and froze another R100 million transferred into Woodglaze’s bank account. But the preservation order lapsed and the flats were returned to the company’s control.
Woodglaze and the other Singh entities continue to collect market related rentals on the flats, which the city resolved to hand over to the tenants in September.
Jonathan Annipen, an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) councillor from Phoenix who brought the motion, which was opposed by the ANC but backed by smaller parties in council, who carried the vote.
The matter was then referred to the city’s executive committee (exco), which then gave the city manager, Musa Mbhele, two months to come back with a report on the recommendations contained in the motion and the financial implications for the city in implementing them.
“Exco deliberated on the matter and gave the city two months to come back with a report on the recommendations we made with regard to a number of developments under the city social housing programme. We also asked him to come back with a feasibility study on the cost implications of giving tenants the right of tenure,” Annipen said.
A report from Mbhele, who was out of the country during November, had not yet been received.
The SHRA appears to be pushing back against the move to give tenants title deeds, saying that the projects that it subsidised were meant to be leased and were not part of a rent to purchase programme.
Annipen said this stance by the SHRA was “very disturbing” and that it was important the SIU report be made public to ascertain whether Woodglaze had acted unlawfully.
“We will be asking that the report be made publicly as a matter of urgency. We need to see that report,” Annipen said.
Govender said they believed that the report was deliberately being suppressed because its findings would force the city, the SHRA and the Hawks to act over the irregular payment of subsidies.
eThekwini spokesperson Gugu Sisilana would not say why the city had not acted to stop evictions and when the SIU report would be released by the council.
She also declined to comment on the implementation of the council resolution to “regularise” the complexes and give tenants title deeds.
“There is no response until the matter goes back to council with actual recommendations for implementation,” Sisilana said. “We have been advised that we can’t issue parallel statements while a feasibility study is still being conducted as the matter was referred back to Exco by council for consideration.”
The SHRA has previously told Mail & Guardian that KZN Social Housing, Gralio and other Singh companies involved in the Phoenix infill housing are not recognised social housing entities.
Spokesperson Lesego Diale said in a statement issued after eThekwini passed the motion that the SHRA flats could not be given to tenants on a rent to buy basis.
“The SHRA wishes to distance itself from any motion and statements that purport that social housing units were developed with a rent to own objective and inform all the tenants of social housing and stakeholders to continue honouring their leases with their social housing landlords,” Diale said.
Attempts to secure comment from Woodglaze, First Metro and KZN Social Housing were unsuccessful.