BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has been accused of giving priority to people with money to buy residential stands ahead of those registered on the city’s waiting list.
One of the affected residents, Pritchard Mahlangu, claims his name has been on the waiting list since 2011 and has been religiously paying the annual fee of US$11,50 to no avail.
“I registered in 2011 to be on the waiting list and up until now, nothing has changed. I still have not been allocated a stand. Instead I am expected to keep paying US$11,50 to remain on the list, which is not fair,” he said.
“What they are doing does not make sense. The waiting list is not being followed. Instead, people with money just pay and get stands without even being on the list and we are left feeling stupid.”
Mahlangu said BCC should scrap the housing waiting list that has become useless.
“They should let people with money pay so that we don’t waste our time waiting on the list,” he said.
Council housing and community services director Dictor Khumalo said allocation in different places had its own procedures.
“Allocation of stands in each place has its own way of being dealt with and the money is used differently,” he said.
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Last year, BCC committed to unveil 3 000 stands annually to reduce the housing waiting backlog which stands at 130 000.
During the commissioning of 114 stands in Emganwini high-density suburb, town clerk Christopher Dube revealed that the city had entered into a contract with government to allocate 3 000 stands annually.
Moreover, Bulawayo will be using the government housing model, which stipulates that 40% of the buildings must be high rise.
