The Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Tertuis Simmers, on 16th Nov 2021, handed over title deeds to 27 residents within the Cape Metro, declaring them fully-fledged and legal homeowners.
22 residents are from Khayelitsha, while 5 are from Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain.
The title deed handover has been made possible through public-private partnerships, as these recipients, due to various reasons, either had or were on the brink of having their homes repossessed. With the Provincial Department of Human Settlements’ intervention, certain individual subsidies were availed and in other instances, some criteria were relaxed. The City of Cape Town wrote off arrears. Banks wrote off some of the debt and investors / individuals have sold back the properties at below market values in order to help restore security of tenure to the families who are living in the homes.
“Today’s handover is highly significant, as it has ensured that 27 elderly residents can now for this first time in their lives, call themselves legal homeowners. It was a privilege to share this occasion with our beneficiaries and it brought immense joy. Witnessing their excitement, joy and gratitude filled me with a sense of pride, as it demonstrated the magnitude what this moment means to them. This once again shows how caring the Western Cape Government is and its continued commitment to restoring our people’s dignity,” Minister Simmers said.
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Mitchells Plain residents, Mr Cedric Manuel (64), who was one of the beneficiaries said that he had been waiting for this moment for 42 years.
“This means the world to me. It’s unfortunate that my wife is not here to share in this moment with me, because she has already passed on. I know that she is smiling down on me today. I would like to thank everyone who made this day possible.”
Minister Simmers said that his ministry had committed itself to accelerating the handover of title deeds.
“Today, this is clearly being demonstrated, particularly since in August this year, we handed over 105 title deeds to Khayelitsha residents. We regard ownership as a true form of empowerment and will press forward with empowering our people in this manner.
As the Western Cape Government, we will continue striving towards establishing an enabling environment, so that we are better placed to grant beneficiaries security of tenure and make more residents legal homeowners by handing over these title deeds” he concluded
