Despite a rise in conflicts involving land and housing, Gauteng says it cannot guarantee residents the allocation of subsidised housing.
Though over one million RDP houses have been built since 1994, the provincial backlog stands at a further one million.
Issues around land and lack of housing have turned many communities against each other.
Immigration and a growing population are adding to the demand for housing in the country’s smallest province and after decades of dishing out RDP houses, authorities say they cannot make any guarantees.
Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Lebogang Maile says not everyone is going to get a house.
“We have to sort out the housing list and I believe in sorting out the list we have to prioritise the elderly, disabled and single mothers. We have to have a criteria that must be communicated to everyone as to who is going to be prioritised. Because the truth is that we will not be able to build a house for everyone. The impression that has been created all along is that everyone is going to get a house.”
One hundred thousand serviced stands are to be made available for residents over the next five years. Recipients will be given 18 months to build their own homes.
The department says it will also be approaching the courts for an order, to discourage illegal land invasions.
While the department says that it has allocated its R6 billion budget to build other houses, existing contractors with unfinished houses will be black listed unless they complete their projects.
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