Charleen Paulse (58) lives with her 80-year-old mother in a Lotus River backyard. She is one of 375 150 applicants on the City of Cape Town’s Housing Needs Register with a “waiting status”.
“To be almost 60 years old and to still sleep behind your mother’s back and your mother is almost 80. I don’t know what to do. I’m tired.”
Paulse, who grew up in Hanover Park, says she longs to have her house.
“Kids who grew up in front of me are already in their houses and they (the City) say I qualify for an RDP house and a subsidy. It is frustrating because I don’t know what to do.”
What is even more frustrating, she adds, is that she often hears of people who have been on the waiting list for about 15 years being given houses.
“The last time I was at the rent offices, I was told they are going to focus on people who have been on the waiting list for 12 to 15 years.
“Fine, if you are giving those people homes, what about people like me? There are a lot of people living in the backyards. I’m here, living with my mother so that my mom is not alone, but I desperately need my own place.
“I don’t want to hear every time I am still on a waiting list.”
Paulsen, a mother of three with four grandchildren, says she wants to invite her children over, to bake and cook for them in her own home.
The grandmother says she is sent from pillar to post when she enquires about her status on the housing waiting list.
“If I want to go to social workers, I walk from here to Hanover Park and Gatesville. On my way to Gatesville, a lady told me there are rental flats standing empty. I asked how I can apply. So I went to that rental office and I was referred to the office in Cape Town and then I was sent back to Gatesville.
“I’m going through all the correct procedures. I am born in Cape Town, I am a Capetonian and I’m walking my skoene stukkend to the rental office just to hear that I am still on the waiting list and this after 30 years.
“Last year, I went to the rent office in Parow and updated my details. I went with my split application because I am divorced. I handed over all those details.
“To be 30 years on the waiting list and still waiting, doesn’t my vote count?”
According to the City, Paulse is one of 375 150 applicants with waiting status.
“It can be confirmed that Ms Paulse is on the City’s Housing Needs Register with an application date of 1 July 1993. Unfortunately, she has not been selected for an opportunity yet.
“The applicants submitted their divorce order on 25 October 2022 and their record was split. Applicants are selected for housing based on the date that they registered on the City’s Housing Needs Register.”
The City further acknowledged that Paulse visited their offices again on Thursday 4 May to advise on her interest in rental opportunities in the Grassy Park, Lotus River and Mitchell’s Plain areas.
“Ms Paulse will be contacted should her date be reached for vacancies in these areas.
“Beneficiaries of all City housing projects are allocated in accordance with our Allocation Policy and the date of registration on our Housing Needs Register. This is to ensure that housing opportunities are provided to qualifying applicants in a fair, transparent and equal manner, and to prevent queue jumping.”
The City added that there is no specific time frame in which residents must wait before they are allocated a housing opportunity as it depends on the availability of housing opportunities and whether applicants qualify when the opportunities do become available.
“It is important to remember that all housing projects have different dynamics in terms of the size of the project, the number of applicants who may qualify and the application date range for that project.
“The Register is a fair system that ensures those who are most deserving will receive opportunities in each project. It provides a mechanism to objectively determine who gets an opportunity. The City remains committed to providing homes to residents in well-located areas close to public transport, jobs, government services and public amenities.”
Further, the City urges all beneficiaries to keep their addresses and cellphone numbers up to date, so that the government can contact them when their housing opportunities come.
- To do so, visit https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/HWL2012Online/
