The heat is intensifying for embattled company as the KZN MEC speaks up.
|||The heat is intensifying for embattled company Woodglaze Trading, as the KZN MEC for human settlements Ravi Pillay called for residents to report incidents of corruption.
Woodglaze Trading – linked to controversial businessman Jay Singh – the company that is behind the development of thousands of housing units across the Phoenix area, has been in the spotlight for poor building workmanship, allegations of corruption in housing allocations and evicting tenants for non-payment of rent.
Pillay said: “I am dealing with one allegation of a person who has paid beyond what was required to acquire a home, and this is not right, so I am calling on anyone who has had to do this to secure a home to come to us and give us the information,” he said.
Pillay added: “We’d like to stamp out corruption and bring the culprits to book.”
Late last year Pillay stopped the evictions of tenants from some of the buildings owned by Woodglaze as residents complained about structural defects, alleged irregular allocations, issues with rent, and no clarity on whether residents were “renting to own”.
Pillay said that while no city funds were used in the development of the homes, council land had been made available for the development.
“In its concept it was a good and creative idea to get houses delivered to people. There are more than 2 000 units there which wouldn’t have otherwise been built,” said Pillay.
He said there had been some mistakes, “possibly in terms of checks and balances” which had led to some allegations of corruption.
While not revealing what further steps the department was considering, Pillay said: “We’ve engaged several stakeholders to an intervention that could lead to a permanent solution, and dealing with defects is a key component of that,” he said.
The company’s Pravesh Inderjeeth, manager of Starwood Incorporated, and speaking on behalf of Woodglaze, confirmed that they have had meetings with the MEC.
He confirmed that the company was aware that people were attempting to, or being coerced into paying large sums of money to get to the top of housing lists.
“Woodglaze Trading has not been furnished with any evidence of such rumours. Should such evidence be presented, Woodglaze Trading will immediately act against such perpetrators,” said Inderjeeth.
In response to whether they welcomed the MEC’s intervention regarding the allegations, he said yes, and said that they would work closely with the department. -Independent on Saturday