When fifteen of the 110 government-built houses in Elandspoort were handed out to new poor Afrikaner occupants, fury erupted amongst black squatters on the waiting list for those houses.
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VIDEO: Small number of poor white families get goverment housing in Zuma election stunt: fb.me/2pjZyeKtF
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However, the Times of SA reported (erroneously) that all 110 government-built houses were handed to poor whites - however this was not the case, only 15 white families from the Bethlehem squatter camps were granted the right to live in government housing.
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The black squatters who had been on waiting lists for years, however were furious, reported The Times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUxPPgRYHH1NSp2Ya_ROiXxw&v=JtucDskMzes&feature=player_embedded
The Times writes: "The allocation of houses to white squatters in (Elandspoort) Bethlehem, Pretoria West, was fast-tracked to enable President Jacob Zuma to keep his promise to them - but it has enraged black squatters who have been living nearby for years. Zuma hands over the keys to 110 government houses in Elandspoort to Afrikaner squatters.
And the black squatters want to know why their white counterparts got their houses within six months whereas they have been waiting for their houses for years.
The Bethlehem squatters did not have to apply for the houses at the local housing office - their application forms were brought to them, and later collected, by Gauteng housing officials.
"Zuma must come here. He must see for himself the conditions we are living in and then tell us how come we have been on the housing waiting list for over 11 years when some people can get their houses within months," Sheila Moyo said.
Unemployed Moyo, 50, has been squatting with about 200 others at the informal settlement about 5km from Bethlehem for the past seven years.
She and others moved to the area in June 2008 after their shacks were destroyed by fire.
Zuma visited the Bethlehem community in July 2008 and in March 2010, when he promised to help resolve the squatters' plight.
Bethlehem spokesman Leoné Hine said the Gauteng housing department officials delivered the application forms in January .
"We all completed the forms ... then called them to come and collect them. They came back after two weeks to sort out missing documents. Then they came back and said you are going to be allocated houses within a month," she said.
The families started moving into the new two-bedroom houses in May.Their neighbours in the Atteridgeville informal settlements have been on the waiting list for years.
Simon Pitie, 64, applied for his house in 2000 butreceived his keys in the same month as the Bethlehem squatters, who had applied only in January.
Deputy chief of Solidarity Helping Hand Christine Breet accused Zuma of trying to win votes for next year's general election.
Zuma spokesman Mac Maharaj could not be reached for comment.
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http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/07/18/fury-as-zuma-hands-houses-to-white-squatters
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