CITY OF CAPE TOWN 28 OCTOBER 2013 CAPE TOWN THIS WEEK: A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR, ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE City issues title deeds to Site C residents The City of Cape Town is committed to building an Opportunity City, where all citizens are given the means to reach their full potential and become full and productive citizens. We are giving effect to this commitment through a range of interventions – the most notable of which is our ongoing multi-billion Rand investment in creating an integrated public transport system. Once completed we will have broken down the worst legacies of Apartheid spatial planning and ensured that historically marginalised communities, from Atlantis to Khayelitsha, will be able to access economic opportunities utilising safe and reliable public transport networks. But in creating opportunity, we have to look deeper than networks, to the foundations upon which any network is built. We have to consider the foundation of any society where people have economic freedom and economic choices. It is the foundation of ownership. Many of our citizens are already owners in our economy. Many of our poorer citizens, however, are not. And at the individual level, in most cases, the major asset from which all other opportunities can be leveraged is the home. That is why we have been providing title to qualifying beneficiaries, to expand opportunity to poorer citizens. Indeed, I believe that there is arguably no single intervention that holds the greater prospect of changing the lived reality of poor and marginalised citizens that the provision of ownership. Having title to property is a fundamental requirement of a free market system, as it allows a home owner to derive an income and to access capital. Title enables recipients to start or expand a business venture, which in turn enables them to derive an income stream and help create jobs. The City is driving this process in numerous ways. First, we are ensuring the transfer of title in new housing projects, with recent significant successes including Kewtown in Athlone and Kuyasa in Khayelitsha. Indeed, the handover of title deeds continues almost every week in the city. Secondly, a separate process has seen the City focus on affording ownership to qualifying beneficiaries in existing housing. There are currently 16 000 saleable units in the City, which include row houses, semi-detached and free standing homes. These are units which can be properly surveyed and title transferred. The City will make use of every available mechanism to ensure that costs are kept to an absolute minimum for qualifying beneficiaries; including the provision of the full R88 000 subsidy to qualifying beneficiaries to cover the property price and any rental arrears. Furthermore, the City will contribute to the conveyance costs. The third process is specifically aimed at redress, where the City is focused on transferring title to beneficiaries in historical housing projects, where these housing projects were completed more than 10 years ago. The failure to transfer title in these projects is a national problem, which has arisen from the fact that many of these areas were not properly surveyed; were subject to illegal occupation; and a range of other factors. The City has appointed a consultant to overcome these difficulties and to ensure that, over the coming years, title is afforded to an estimated 30 000 possible beneficiaries. On Saturday 26 October 2013, we handed over title deeds to residents from Site C, Khayelitsha as part of this third stream of direct redress, in which we focus on historical housing projects. Saturday’s beneficiaries have travelled a long journey since the 1980s to finally realise the benefits of home ownership. The history of the finalisation of title deeds for Site C residents is a reminder of our divided past. Indeed, they were once forcefully removed to Site C by the Apartheid regime. For years they did not have access to full basic services due to the supposed temporary nature of their community. Due to numerous problems, including changes in government structures, project difficulties, surveying difficulties, complications around service upgrades and difficulties around erven line, what was supposed to be a smooth process of title transfer has only recently been concluded. But the series of constructive engagements the community has had with the current City administration have helped to resolve this process. We marked the beginning of a new chapter for residents of Site C. The City issued the first group of 50 title deeds to those beneficiaries who have been waiting the longest to obtain them. The rest of the remaining 2 785 title deeds will be issued starting in November from the Solomon Tshuku Hall in Site C. All of the other beneficiaries will be able to collect theirs by visiting the site with their proof of identification. In conclusion, we are working to broaden the base of opportunity in this city, especially in terms of our infrastructure investment. But the greatest investment we can make is in our people, especially by giving them ownership. This makes economic sense. It makes financial sense. It makes business sense. But whatever else it does, it is the right thing to do. Thank you, baie dankie, enkosi. End Issued by: Integrated Strategic Communication and Branding Department, City of Cape Town Media enquiries: Solly Malatsi, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Patricia de Lille, Tel: 021 400 1382 or Cell: 083 943 1449, Email: [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 08:50:06 +0000
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