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Joburg officials sound alarm as scammers use MMC’s face to sell RDP houses Zandile.Khumalo Fri, 12/12/2025 - 13:45 JOHANNESBURG – A wave of housing scams is sweeping through Johannesburg, and scammers are now using the faces of top officials to do it.The City’s Human Settlements MMC, Mlungisi Mabaso, says criminal syndicates are targeting residents online, posing as government representatives, asking people to pay a fee to be allocated a RDP house.Mabaso says it came to their attention when ‘scammed’ beneficiaries visited his office with proof of payments. They believed they were paying the city, and not syndicates.READ| Corruption claims rock Ekurhuleni RDP rolloutMabaso says they are cracking the whip on these syndicates.The city has launched a verification project to check who exactly is living in RDP houses, and the results are troubling.“There are quite a number of RDP houses that are occupied by people who are not the rightful beneficiaries. Another discovery was that others have sold them, and others are renting them out. So clearly, those people do not want these houses.”Because the scam has become so widespread and legally tricky, the city has sought legal advice on how to take back and re-allocate the houses.The crackdown comes as the housing backlog continues to grow, with thousands still stuck on waiting lists.Residents have now been urged to stay alert.

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