Coming up on
Special Assignment this week:
Episode title: Cash-For-Land Scams
Broadcast date: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Teaser ...
This week Special Assignment turns the spotlight onto Lenasia, a suburb south of Johannesburg where dramatic scenes have played out over the past few weeks as bulldozers moved in to demolish dozens of homes.
Special Assignment brings you the stories behind the dramatic scenes that unfolded on our television screens and the front pages of newspapers across the country.
The provincial government says the homes were built on government land. But residents say they’ve been duped by cash-for-land scammers who sold the land to them and provided what seemed like legitimate documentation. The scams turned out to be wide ranging syndicates that include officials from the housing department, Joburg Water and the City of Johannesburg.
About two hundred houses are on the government’s hit list in the first phase of demolitions. An urgent court application by the Human Rights Commission temporarily halted the controversial demolitions. But despite mounting anger over the government’s actions that have left dozens of families homeless, the bulldozers once again rolled into a different section of Lenasia this week and continued with more demolitions.
Special Assignment also looks at how the country’s housing crisis affects a section of society that does not qualify for RDP homes but also don’t earn enough to qualify for bonds to formally enter the property market. These working class families have now lost everything.
The investigation also reveals how these scams even stretch into the rental market. In one instance, a de facto landlord has built 10 properties on government land and is renting it out to tenants seemingly with assistance from City Power, Jo’burg Council and even the courts.
“Cash-For-Land Scam” is produced by Adél van Niekerk.
Special Assignment is on SABC3 on Thursdays at 21h00.