15 September, 2005

By Thomas Thale

AFTER a nomadic lifetime spent moving from one makeshift shelter to another, 74-year old Clifton Mohutsiwa on Tuesday finally got a house he can call his own in Kagiso Extension 12.

As Nomvula Mokonyane, MEC for housing in Gauteng, handed him the keys to his newly built house and a Certificate of Compliance, Mohutsiwa was visibly overwhelmed by his emotions.

Beaming with pride, he declared, "I have my own house. I'm so excited! Oh, I'm a man!," as if confirming Mokonyane's assertion that housing would help restore the dignity of ordinary Africans.

Hundreds of residents who had filled the marquee cheered and ululated, indifferent to the dust and the strong wind that threatened to blow the large tent away.

Mohutsiwa is one of 100 residents who became first time home-owners in their old age when Mokonyane handed them houses. Of these, 80 are women, who had been denied security of tenure in the apartheid years.

"In the past, black women were not allowed to own property, leaving them at the mercy of their husbands and sons. Now, we are equal," she said.

The houses were built under the government's People's Housing Process scheme, which encourages beneficiaries to build their own houses to cut down on costs. Altogether, 250 houses would be built in Kagiso Extension 12 and a further 250 were to be built in neighbouring Rietvallei, announced Mokonyane.

"In the first phase, we'll be spending R11-million to help residents build their own houses," she said, to much applause.

Mogale City Speaker, Farouk Bhayat, Nomvula Mokonyane, MEC for housing in Gauteng, and Jeunesse Park from Food and Trees for Africa

Mokonyane, who grew up in Kagiso, received a warm welcome. As she led the crowd in song and dance, her nostalgia was clearly etched on her face. When the dust settled, she handed out houses and grocery starter packs.

A fruit tree was also planted at each house, courtesy of Food and Trees for Africa.

Then, she brought more good tidings to her appreciative audience. "Between now and 2007, we'll be building about 35 000 houses in Mogale City, " she said, triggering another round of loud applause.

These houses would include greenfields development, rental stock and a programme to deal with hostels.

"We want to eradicate informal settlements by formalising and upgrading some of them. Where it might not be feasible to upgrade, people might have to be relocated," she warned, citing Tudor informal settlement as an example.

The government had already fulfilled its commitment to build 250 houses in Extension 4, Munsieville in this financial year. Another 528 houses were built under a different project.

In Rietvallei, 440 stands had already been serviced. About 336 units had been built in Sinqobile Phase 1 and an extra 262 were under construction, said Mokonyane.

"We have identified 1 589 stands around Sinqobile alone."

Hostels that were to be upgraded and leased out as part of rental stock were the Kagiso Old Hostel, Joshua Door Hostel, Munsieville Municipality Hostel and Boiketlo Hostel.

"We want to integrate hostel dwellers into communities," Mokonyane explained.

People who had been on the housing waiting list since 1996 would be priority beneficiaries at greenfields developments. "Most of them live in backyards. Applications will now be handled by housing officials working in conjunction with ward committees."

In areas that were relatively rural, such as Tarlton, Nooitchedacht and Magaliesburg, said Mokonyane, the government would build agri-villages, where people could subsist from the earth.

However, she had harsh words for absentee owners, who rented out properties built for them by the government. In terms of the new Beneficiary Administration System, they would be given 15 days to present themselves or forfeit their properties, she warned.

Jeunesse Park, a representative of Food and Trees for Africa, described Mogale City as the best municipality in terms of greening.

"We have planted over 7 000 trees at homes in Mogale City to date under our Trees for Homes Programme."

She urged residents to continuing planting trees, saying they stopped dust, made houses cool, produced clean air and brought birds back.

According to Adam Masonganye, the deputy director of housing provisioning in Mogale City, 6 568 Mogale City households stay in shacks.

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