JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — A Johannesburg housing official has been arrested for fraud and corruption following a widespread scheme involving the unlawful sale and transfer of properties meant for vulnerable Soweto residents. Cynthia Ntshangase, a receptionist at the Pimville housing office, is facing charges after at least 15 individuals were defrauded in a scam that exploited the city’s paper-based property system.
The arrests follow an investigation by the Hawks that began in December 2019, culminating in the arrest of two officials in August 2025. Charges against one of the officials were withdrawn after she passed away, leaving Ntshangase to face the ongoing legal proceedings.
Lerato Qoza, chairperson and founder of the Khuluma Mphakathi Collective—a community initiative based in Pimville and Klipspruit—has been at the forefront of supporting the victims. According to Qoza, the collective has identified at least 15 confirmed victims, with many more facing imminent eviction threats.
“One of our victims wanted to buy a house, and two officials from the Pimville office said they would assist her,” Qoza explained. “She ended up paying an amount of 160,000 rand and, up until today, she has been awaiting a house she never received.”
Seth Thorne, a GroundUp journalist who has been extensively covering the story, noted that the corruption goes beyond simple financial scams. Thorne spoke with numerous residents who alleged they were defrauded of their family homes through manipulated paperwork.
“A pattern emerges of officials exploiting the paper-based system in the office,” Thorne stated. “You have the most vulnerable residents—those who have just seen a family loss, families in dispute, and residents who are unable to pay legal fees to fight this. You see names scratched off title deeds by hand, wills being changed, and new wills being drawn up.”
Thorne added that he spoke to about a dozen residents across separate cases who were displaced from homes they had lived in their entire lives, only to find strangers occupying them.
The financial and emotional toll on the victims is severe, particularly because many cannot afford the legal services required to reclaim their properties. Qoza highlighted that the Khuluma Mphakathi Collective is struggling to secure pro bono or legal aid services due to extensive waiting lists.
“We reach out from our own pockets,” Qoza said, revealing that her own mother is also a victim of the scheme. “People unlawfully occupied our family home in Pimville, and the housing office was part of it. When we reported to the regional manager of human settlements, he said it was a private house and he could not assist, even though he knew one of the arrested individuals, Fatima, assisted in taking our family home.”
To fight the unlawful occupation, Qoza and her pensioner mother had to pay approximately 35,000 rand for the eviction process. She noted that the victims are often poor, marginalized pensioners who are being pitted against well-off individuals who illegally acquired the properties.
When approached regarding the allegations, the City of Johannesburg emphasized that it is allowing the disciplinary process to take its course. According to Thorne, the city stated it did not want to take unilateral action until the formal legal processes have run their course, opting to wait for the outcome of the court case to determine if further disciplinary action is warranted.
This response has left victims and community advocates frustrated. Qoza is calling on the city to conduct a comprehensive audit of the affected properties and intervene to assist the displaced residents, noting that some victims were minors when they were illegally evicted. Under the law, evicted individuals must be provided with alternative accommodation, which has not happened in these cases.
“It is painful to not have a home while you had a home previously, and painful to see strangers staying in your home,” Qoza said. “Their home files and family history are at the municipal offices, but they end up on the streets. We have sent emails to city officials and done picketing, but the remaining staff in the office are still hiding files and information. The human settlements department is failing us.”
The case is scheduled to return to the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court on July 13.
