By Akani Nkuna
The Department of Human Settlements and the Gauteng Provincial Government handed over 163 houses to qualifying beneficiaries in Soweto on Wednesday as part of the Lufhereng Mega Project, one of the province’s largest integrated housing developments.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane told beneficiaries to build strong communities around their new homes and create an environment that supports children and families.
“Our plea is that you love each other [as a community], many of you will be seeing each other for the first time, and as neighbours, get to know each other. Build your own community, know your neighbour’s children and be a community,” she said.
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The Lufhereng development is a roughly 2,000-hectare integrated project west of Soweto with the capacity to accommodate more than 30,000 households across a range of housing types and tenure options.
The development is intended in part to address the longstanding housing waiting list and provide accommodation for people living in informal settlements and backyard dwellings in Soweto and surrounding areas.
Simelane also appealed to beneficiaries to maintain their homes, saying responsibility for looking after the properties rested with residents once they had taken occupation.
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Tasneem Motara said the Lufhereng project demonstrated the government’s ability to deliver housing despite the pressures facing the province.
She said the development was intended largely to accommodate people from Soweto and surrounding areas, while helping reduce informal settlements and address Gauteng’s housing backlog.
Motara stressed that beneficiaries receiving homes had undergone the department’s qualification and verification processes.
“Everybody who is getting a house today qualifies for that house. There is no non-South African, there is no one who does not qualify for a house that is getting a house today. Some of you applied in 1996, 1999 and many of you participated in the verification programmes that the department has had over a number of years,” said Motara.
The MEC also warned beneficiaries about restrictions governing subsidised housing, including rules preventing recipients from selling their properties during the prescribed restriction period.
She warned residents against taking occupation of the houses only to rent them out and return to their previous accommodation, saying authorities would act against unlawful practices involving subsidised homes.
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“Do not try and become a landlord today and get a tenant [to rent the house] while you go back to where you used to live. Because you are not helping solve the problem of housing. Here we have built houses, we have spent this money but we want to create new communities. Stay in your house,” Motara added.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero appealed to residents who had not yet received houses to be patient, saying further housing was planned in the area adjacent to the Lufhereng development.
“Even those who have not received house yet, be patient, it is coming. There is a total of about 800-something that we have to build in this area. And we are not going to stop until all the people on the waiting list, especially senior citizens, get their houses,” he said.
