The Department of Human Settlements greatly welcomes the decision of the Johannesburg Magistrate Court to convict four fraudsters involved in the illegal sale of government land in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg.

This is an indication of how serious the Department is, in dealing with corruption within the system. The Department investigations have focused on three areas;

1. Government employees/officials defrauding the Housing Subsidy System (HSS).
2. Investigation into the housing contract and poor workmaship.
3. Investigation into the elligal sale of state land and fraudulant allocation of houses.

Since 2007, a total of 37 504 government officials have been investigated, 2 236 have been convicted and 5 506 have signed Acknowledgement of Debt (individual’s agreement and commitment to repay government money after being convicted for fraud). About R 50 million has been recovered to date.

The Department would like to urge residents and the public at large to expose criminals by coming forward with information on other suspected fraudulent activities as this will help to eradicate the corrupt elements stealing land intended for the building of adequate human settlements for our poor people.

Enquiries: Vusi Tshose – 083 581 5265 Vusi.Tshose@dhs.gov.za

Issued by the National Department of Human Settlements