NO MORE MUSHROOM INFORMAL SETTLEMENT
By BRIAN KAJENGO
MEC for Human Settle, Andries Gamede declared that there will be no
mushrooming of informal settlements and scarcity of land can be attributed to
the 1913 Natives Land Act.
The Act meant that Blacks were deprived of their rights to shelter.
As a result, the majority became homeless - a
situation which forced them to go work in mines, domestic work, and generally
inferior jobs.
Over the last 100 years, this situation deprived people of better
opportunities and compounded their lives by breeding more life disparities.
“The huge housing backlog that we see today is as a result of the
introduction of the Act in 1913, which immediately declared all Africans to be
homeless.
“Our gathering here marks a great achievement in the history of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality
and its local municipalities.
“It is not only a commendable feat for the district, but a substantial
improvement in the lives of over 1000 beneficiaries of governments’ low cost
houses.” MEC Andries Gamede said.
Gamede as from today, all the beneficiaries seated here will have
their dignity restored and livelihoods improved.
The Department and the municipalities are joining the beneficiaries in
the celebration of full ownership of their houses and restoration of dignity.
The advent of the redefined mandate of delivering human settlements in
an integrated and sustainable manner the Department has pulled very stop at
ensuring that such a noble idea is realized.
The issuing of title deeds forms part of government’s bigger plan to
improve the lot of ordinary citizens.
A Title Deed are not just ordinary piece of paper, but legal document
that ought to be valued by every beneficiary – for it is important.
The introduction of the comprehensive approach of housing delivery –
Breaking New Ground (BNG) formally adopted the principle of creating government
subsidized housing assets.
This meant that (houses) as assets that can be traded or used to move
up the ladder in the property market.
“The Department’s redefined mandate requires the delivery of services
– including title deeds – in a coordinated and sustainable manner.
“Since the birth of the new order in 2009, the Department together
with municipalities and other stakeholders is hard at work ensuring that mega
projects are delivered.” Gamede said.
MEC Gamede says these projects will boast of a myriad of services that
include different housing typologies, business sites, recreational facilities,
serviced stands and other required socio-economic facilities.
“Over the last year, we have been hard at work to deal with a number
of aspects that are bedeviling the department, including amongst others,” He
said
Gamede says his Department improve on beneficiary management throughout
the province, appoint competent contractors to deliver quality houses and other
services, support and coordinate other departments, assist municipalities to
improve their ageing infrastructure, also come up with legislation and measures
to curb land invasion, and Intensify campaign of rolling-out title deeds to all
benefiting households.
According to the country’s Constitution - every person has a right to
decent housing, clean water, health and education.
On shelter – as one of the basic human rights - that can only be
realized through the acquisition of a title deed.
“Houses should at all times be viewed as economic assets as ownership
encourages investments through renovations and expansions. This in turn
triggers business opportunities in the household and the area.” Gamede said.
These Ownership further allows beneficiaries to use their houses to
leverage their economic circumstances by making additional income.
Title Deeds are important as they allow beneficiaries to access
finance from financial institutions for renovations and funding for business
opportunities.
Acquiring a title deed enables a beneficiary to have the house as an
asset, offer sense of pride and belonging.
The issuing of title deeds is to facilitate the registration in to the
names of the housing beneficiaries, ensure provision of security of tenure for
beneficiaries, ensure their lives are continuously and economically improved
through guarantees with the title deeds and satisfy the provision of
legislation to provide them to beneficiaries.
“From the municipal perspective, property ownership compels the owners
to pay municipal rates and services received, thereby contributing to its
ongoing financial viability and economic sustainability.” Gamede said.
He says Beneficiaries will now be able to use their title deeds to
improve their dwellings, to acquire household’s goods and make use of capital
borrowing against their properties and to start small businesses.
“Furthermore, houses are social assets in a sense that they can be
transferred to descendants, they offer a sense of pride to owners and a sense
of belonging to communities.” Gamede said.
The Department’s mandate is to create integrated human settlements and
improve households’ life. Beneficiaries will use the title deeds as a legal
document that reflects the ownership of their properties.
Since 2009, the department had its mandate broadened which will
require the delivery of services in an integrated and sustainable manner.
Emphasis is on the creation of integrated settlements which comprises
of the delivery of low-cost houses, mixed housing typologies, and other required
social and economic amenities such as community halls, health, trading and
education facilities.
The outcome-based approach emphasizes improved coordination of
activities amongst all stakeholders. Below are the highlights of major
achievements: In pursuing the noble vision of
developing integrated human settlements, the department has successfully
delivered the province’s first multi-billion rand integrated project at Klarinet in eMalahleni.
Since inception, the project
has so far delivered over 1 700
low cost houses, more than 300
bonded houses, a school, library, child care centre, and community hall. This approach supports government’s implementation of sustainable
human settlements through the Breaking New Ground (BNG) development strategy.
The delivery of services requires the department to deliver not only
houses, but all required facilities such as schools, health facilities,
different housing typologies, and other socio-economic facilities.
To this end, a total of 38949
low cost houses (RDPs) have been built and 625
Community Residential Units (CRUs), which is the delivery of hostels and
conversion of old ones into proper family units.
The
achievements also included the servicing of sites within municipalities where
beneficiaries can either buy the stands or be allocated by their
municipalities. A total of 6249
sites serviced since 2009 to date.
Since
the start of the period under review, a total of 11 Community Halls and 07
Child Care Centre’s have been built.
This
achievement responds to the policy of social cohesion, inclusivity, integration
to create enabling living conditions and improved community welfare.
Restore dignity, pride and a sense of property ownership,
the department has successfully issued more than 7000 title deeds for full home ownership, benefiting thousands of
households.
The issuing of title deeds facilitates the registration into the names
of the housing beneficiaries, ensure provision of security of tenure for
housing beneficiaries, and ensure the lives of beneficiaries are continuously
and economically improved.
Gamede promised that Title deeds will continue to be handed over
through out the province as soon as they are released by the deeds office and
sent to municipalities to their owners.
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