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The IFP calls for urgent answers from the Department of Human Settlements in
Gauteng over vacant RDP houses that are now being occupied illegally in
Mzimhlophe/Orlando by residents from Soweto.

IFP Spokesperson on Human Settlements, Mr Petros Sithole MP, said "There
remain many unanswered questions in this issue. The Department of Human
Settlements in Gauteng must explain to the people of South Africa why these
houses have been allowed to stand vacant for the last six years when we have
a housing shortage in this country? We want to know who the houses were
originally intended for, what steps are currently being taken to remove
illegal occupants from these houses and how long the original recipients of
these houses are now expected to further wait before they can take
occupation?"

"The City of Johannesburg must not be excluded from this debacle as it is
also to blame. Gauteng has a massive housing backlog with some residents,
like those in Diepsloot having C-forms for housing allocations dating back
to 1996 and 1997,"said Sithole.

The IFP calls upon the office of the Public Protector, the MEC for Human
Settlements in Gauteng, Ntombi Mekgwe and the Executive Mayor of the City of
Johannesburg, Mpho Tau to urgently investigate this matter and to come up
with an urgent and amicable solution for all parties herein in order to
avoid any possible future conflicts that may occur. The IFP also re-iterates
its call to the Minister of the Department of Human Settlements, Tokyo
Sexwale to speed up the process of providing people with RDP houses and
eradicate the long waiting period associated therewith.