A meeting of hundreds of Alexandra residents who illegally occupied RDP houses was postponed on Saturday morning after police arrived in the area.

"We are not marching, or picketing, we wanted to meet to air our grievances," said organiser, Thabo Modisane

Modisane said earlier that residents had "grown tired of government's empty promises".

"The people of Alexandra have taken their future into their own hands, they are tired of being evicted from empty factories where they sought temporary relief from the elements, all the RDP houses in River Park, Alexandra have been occupied. What is of particular concern has been the slow pace of delivery which means that millions will be forever homeless,' he said.

Modisane criticised governments spending on the 2010 Soccer World Cup while hundreds of South Africans are homeless.

" The government prioritised billions of rands for a two week spectacle, the 2010 world cup. Many of the homeless do not know if they will even live to see this capitalist venture. Rather than a life plagued with cholera, the people have taken the bold step of occupying all the vacant houses that were due for handing over to friends of ANC councillors and made available for sale to their friends," he said.

He said that the committee would have to regroup after the police dispersed the crowed.

" Freedom of expression is our constitutional right. We have been threatened with arrest. We are being oppressed," he said.

Modisane said that the group would gather again on Sunday afternoon.

Alexandra police could not immediately confirm if they had dispersed the crowd on Saturday morning.

"I contacted the control room and police stations in Alexandra and they all said they did not know anything about that," said Inspector Moses Maphakela.

Sapa