First Vredebes residents in Ceres receive Title Deeds

It brought me great joy to hand over the first 20 title deeds to residents of the Vredebes Human Settlements Development, which is our new Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP) in Ceres. 

While visiting the Cape Winelands District to engage municipalities about the Western Cape Human Settlements budget and their allocations for the 2021/22 financial year, this opportunity on our first day in the Witzenberg municipality was the ultimate highlight for me. It allowed me to ensure that beneficiaries, who between 2019 and 2020 moved into their Breaking New Ground (BNG) units, are also now fully-fledged and legal homeowners.

Empowering our people in this manner is one of our key pillars, as through ownership, we’re able to address the injustices of the past.

One of the title deed recipients, 88-year old Ms Magrieta Geland said: “I feel so honoured and blessed. First, I received a house and now I’m the real owner. This makes me very happy and I appreciate it. Thank you to all who made it possible.” 

Another beneficiary, 83-year old Mr Phephelepi Ntengane said: “This is so good and I’m thankful. It makes me feel 38 and not 83. I own this house now.”

Despite the National Government stopping the Title Deed Restoration Grant (TDRG), we will continue to hand over title deeds. This is an important tool that restores our people’s dignity, while significantly improving their well-being.

We remain committed to establishing an enabling environment, so that we are better placed to grant beneficiaries security of tenure, i.e. make more Western Cape residents legal homeowners by handing over title deeds.