98-year-old Strandfontein resident takes housing wait to Cape Town mayor
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Gadija Jaffer, who says she applied for a government home in 1968, refused to vote in this year's local election and wants Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to visit, while the City says an earlier housing subsidy makes her ineligible for another.
A 98-year-old Strandfontein resident, Gadija Jaffer, says she refused to cast her vote in this year's local government election because she was tired of waiting for a house that was never delivered after more than four decades, Weekend Argus reported.
Jaffer, who was born on May 25, 1928, is also asking the City of Cape Town for proof of ownership of a house given to her daughter instead of her, and wants Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to pay her a personal visit. She currently lives at the residence of one of her children. "They promised me a house, and still I am waiting, that is why I did not vote," she said, adding that she wants a two-bedroom home because the daughter who cares for her would live with her.
The City disputes her account, saying that Jaffer and her daughter previously benefited from a housing opportunity through an individual housing subsidy, that the property acquired through that process was registered in the daughter's name and that it was sold in 2011. In keeping with its Housing Allocation Policy, the City said her registration date was updated to November 15, 2012 to reflect her first renewed contact with the City after the sale. On that basis, the City says she cannot qualify for another subsidy-linked housing opportunity but could be considered for a non-saleable City rental opportunity.
The City said its records originally reflected registration on the City's Housing Needs Register on August 1, 1988, while Jaffer says she applied in 1968 and the City says the application reflected as 1998 on its system. It said her case was taken to the City's Housing Allocations Oversight Committee for priority consideration, but that an appropriate mechanism could not be found within its Human Settlements Department's programmes, and that officials had engaged the family repeatedly over the past year.
According to the City, it offered Jaffer accommodation at a pensioner's cottage, but the family refused because she needs frail-care assistance. The City said pensioners' cottages are intended for elderly people capable of caring for themselves and that it cannot accommodate persons requiring ongoing living assistance. Jaffer's application will remain active on the City's Housing Needs Register. Riyad Isaac, a ward candidate for the United South Africa party who has been campaigning on her case, said the City had shown no compassion by offering accommodation at an old-age home.