Some residents of the Brandwag flats in Bloemfontein will be forced to look for alternative accommodation as eviction looms from flats intended for low-income families.

Mangaung Metro has issued a letter announcing a verification process that will begin on Monday (9/9). It states that the verification will be conducted door-to-door from 16:00 to 22:00 every evening until 30 September without any appointment system.

‘Any illegal landlord threats should be reported’

Tenants are required to provide various documents, including a current payslip not older than three months, identity documents, marriage, divorce, or death certificates if applicable, birth certificates of dependents, and affidavits for income if they own a company, accompanied by company bank statements for the past six months.

Additional affidavits will need to confirm their current occupation, residential address, details of their rental arrangements, and evidence of rental payments. Tenants will also need to complete an application form as part of the verification process.

The metro has warned no new tenants will be allowed to move into the flats until the verification is completed, and any illegal landlord threats should be reported to Sipho Nkane at 067 078 1108.

The Brandwag Social Housing project has been plagued with problems in recent years, including confusion over rent amounts, which account rent payments should go into, and a dilapidated building with a poorly functioning sewerage system.

The project, initially intended to provide affordable housing and a safe environment, has faced significant setbacks due to mismanagement and oversight failures by the Free State Social Housing Company, the entity responsible for implementing it. The Social Housing Regulatory Authority, which is now in charge of the project, intervened by placing the company under administration in 2019.

OFM News previously reported on the protest staged at Mangaung Metro headquarters to voice their grievances. Brandwag residents’ chief marshal, Motsie Nyane, said residents had complained about issues such as untreated sewage spillages, unannounced water supply cuts, and inadequate security at the flats’ entrance.

Back in 2018, 49 families were evicted after it was discovered that illegal tenants had been living in the flats. At the time, Mangaung spokesperson Qondile Khedama said one reason for the municipality’s growing debt was the nonpayment of rent, water, and electricity bills by tenants at the Brandwag flats.

The municipal debt had surpassed R200 million, and it is understood that most current tenants of the flats have not paid rent for at least the past three years.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi cg