Johannesburg - Soweto residents boycotted the local government elections and marched to the ANC Luthuli House headquarters in the Joburg CBD on Monday.
The residents sought to hand over a memorandum of demands including their long wait for the past decade for RDP houses.
One of the protesters told a TV news channel that she had been waiting for more than 10 years for a house despite completing the relevant government forms.
The protesters said that they had explained they were backyard dwellers as their RDP houses were sold.
Themba Makubela, of community housing forum, the Soweto Housing Committee, said they had submitted two memorandum to Luthuli Houser last year over the issues affecting the backyard dwellers.
He said they were waiting to hand in their latest memorandum at Luthuli House demanding their issues were addressed within 30 days.
Makubela said the protesters have vowed to only vote if the memorandum was signed and pledged by ANC leaders.
Police had to prevent them from protesting outside Luthuli House and had ordered them to protest at Beyers Naudé Square, outside the Library Gardens in the Joburg CBD.
Some of the grey-haired protesters came armed with their C4 housing application forms – some dating as far back as 1996 – when then president Nelson Mandela unveiled the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which culminated in several residents being allocated houses.
At the time, a lot of residents were living in packed homes in various parts of South Africa, while others occupied backyard shacks.
However, on Monday these protesters were clearly not among the lucky ones to own an RDP house.
Thoko Ngcobo, 59, joined the protests after she applied for an RDP in 1996, and 25 years later she still does not own one.
“I registered for an RDP house in 1996 but I am still waiting for it. But foreign nationals who came just yesterday to Soweto are occupying them. I went to different housing offices in Diepkloof and Braamfontein over the years. The officials would tell me that my subsidy is not yet out,” Ngcobo said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Johanna Kubayana, from Meadowlands Zone 9, who had applied for an RDP house in 1999 but was still waiting for it, 22 years later. Similarly, 58-year-old Anna Lethale, of Moletsane, has also been waiting for 22 years for her RDP home.
“I applied in 1999 and constantly went to housing offices to enquire about my house. I went to housing offices in Diepkloof Mall and Braamfontein offices. When the government lodged its Ziveze (Show UP) campaign, I regularly visited those offices but could not get any help.
“I want that house. If I die my children will not be able to own it. The government will tell them to apply on their own. I want the house before I die,” Lethale said.
Protesters dispersed after 3pm after officials of the ANC promised them that the party leaders would give them a response in the next 14 days.