The government you vote for is the government you get.

In this case, the ANC-led government of Johannesburg has consistently failed to communicate with the people about the allocation of RDP houses.

First, since there is reportedly no housing waiting list in the City of Johannesburg, one wonders where the ANC has been picking up the beneficiaries for houses all these years?

Second, the Gauteng department of housing and local government collated the waiting list data in 2008 on the Ziveze programme, a project that was seemingly just a means to create jobs for cadres because no other benefits are visible.

To date, there is no database, and I know this because I've asked for it in the Housing Committee, in Council, and in written formal questions to the MMC for Housing, Councillor Dan Bovu, all to no avail.

I believe Ziveze came about just a few months before the 2009 national and provincial elections.

It would appear the goal was to generate support for President Jacob Zuma by saying houses are coming.

Needless to say, after the elections, the promised database and its housing allocations disappeared as quickly as the politicians on the ground. Meanwhile, Johannesburg's Housing Committee has taken a resolution to collate their own data, meaning a repetition of the Ziveze project.

This also means long-suffering applicants are going to wait even longer for RDP houses, and while they are waiting, people will be allocated houses in projects such as Lefhureng and Lehae.

By the time the city has finished collating their database, all the RDP houses will be filled.

If the database is not going to be publicised at all the municipal offices or regional offices, like the DA has proposed, what is the point of a list?

If the housing list is not made public, cadres will still jump the queue or residents from Tembisa will be allocated houses in Johannesburg through brown envelope deals .