Gauteng warns RDP homeowners: renting or selling subsidised houses could cost them the property

Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara has warned beneficiaries of government-subsidised homes against selling or renting out their properties. She said the department could reclaim houses if qualifying beneficiaries were not living in them when title deeds were registered.

The warning was delivered in Soweto during the handover of the final 204 houses at the Jabulani Parcel K housing project. The latest handover brought the number of completed RDP homes allocated at the development to 705.

Motara said beneficiaries had been warned not to transfer possession of their houses to tenants or sell them. She explained that officials would verify whether the qualifying beneficiaries were occupying the properties when the title-deed registration process began.

She warned that if officials found tenants living in a property instead of the registered beneficiary, the department could remove the tenants and reallocate the house to another qualifying person on the waiting list.

The Jabulani Parcel K project had experienced delays of approximately four years because of difficulties with the construction of an electricity substation. The wider development is planned to include 1,410 housing units, consisting of 705 RDP walk-up units, 564 social housing units and 141 homes under the First Home Finance programme.

Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Motara and Johannesburg human settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso attended the handover. Motara thanked Eskom for assisting with electrification but said further development depended on resolving electricity supply constraints in the area.

One beneficiary, Thoko Dlamini, said she had waited 30 years for a home after applying in 1996. Now approaching 70, she said receiving the house meant she no longer had to worry about being unable to afford one. Should government reclaim subsidised homes when beneficiaries rent them out, or should there be more flexibility for families facing financial difficulties?

Source: https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2026-10-29-gauteng-warns-rdp-homeowners-rent-or-sell-your-house-and-risk-losing-it/