For a few hundred Rands, the Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre in Roodepoort has always been a sought-afters pot for pensioners.
Owned and run by the City of Johannesburg, the application criteria to live there is simple – you need to be a pensioner, prove a limited financial income and provide evidence that you do not already own a home.
That done, you climb onto the waiting list. And wait.
But, in recent times, the centre seems to have become host to numerous illegal occupants including parolees and families under pensionable age. Add to that, continuous reports of crime and dilapidated living conditions.
Even worse – allegations by tenants and local activists that pensioners are scamming other pensioners, by “selling” the city-owned flats for cold cash.
The Devi Show tracks down one of the facility’s so-called illegal estate agents known as Vovi Fredericks and sits down with the City of Johannesburg’s Human Settlements Department which is supposedly well-aware of these underhand dealings.