Teboho Setena
The Free State social housing complex in Brandwag, Bloemfontein, is back in the spotlight with the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) planning to regulate the controversial property.
The property has been fraught with problems arising from collapsed governance.
Problems range from the non-payment of municipal service accounts and rent, debt worth billions, alleged fraud and corruption, as well as apparent gross maladministration.
On Monday, 5 May, the metro issued a public notice to tenants informing them about the intended plans to regulate the property, starting with signing lease agreements to qualifying tenants.
According to Qondile Khedama, spokesperson for the metro, there are only four legal tenants who qualified for the programme with the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (Shra).
“They are currently paying the rental fee as per the contract,” he said.
According to Khedama, the regulation of the housing complex meant that all non-qualifying occupants needed to be assessed and sign lease agreements upon qualification. He explained this was part of the numerous processes already in place in terms of the administration on the instructions of the Mangaung Metro’s council resolution and instructions to regulate the housing complex.
According to Khedama, these processes were key to collecting rentals and manage the Brandwag Social Housing project for tenants to meet their obligations in terms of their lease agreements with the Free State Social Housing Company (Freshco). He said the Mangaung council approved the Freshco winding-up-and-transfer-of-stock strategy on 5 July last year.
“The turn-around commenced with a process of regularising all existing qualifying occupants from September to October 2024. This timeline was extended to the end of November last year to deal with tenants who claimed not to have had sufficient time. The process of regularising the Brandwag housing complex has been completed. A further extension was granted in respect of regularisation to the end of January 2025,” said Khedama.
He said there was a multifaced task team in the process of finalising the appointment of the new Social Housing Institution, which will manage the Brandwag housing complex. The team comprised of the Mangaung Metro, Social Housing Regulatory Authority, Department of Human Settlement (provincial and national), and the bond holding National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC).
Khedama said the process unfolding now followed the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee’s visit to the Brandwag project on 25 March and commitment by Gregory Nthatisi, executive mayor, to engage with occupants.
He said the mayor held several meetings with the so-called ‘tenants committee’ in the area from the date of the administration order until the end of April.
“In a meeting held between the executive mayor and the committee on 2 April, the committee made an offer as little as R200 a month on the rental payments, irrespective of the size of the units, which is not acceptable. According to Khedama, illegal occupants failing to comply with the latest processes, face eviction in terms of the notice of motion which was served to illegal occupants.
During the legal battles, which include protest by occupants against the Mangaung Metro’s eviction attempt, occupants did not pay for any services for several years. This saw occupants themselves running the complex into a squalor.
