Handing Over of Houses to Elderly Beneficiaries in Langa Township's Joe Slovo

The Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, and Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, will hand over the first units of Joe Slovo Phase 3 Housing Project in Langa, Cape Town, on 14 August 2012. They will be accompanied by City of Cape Town Mayco member for housing, Ernest Sonnenburg.

The R374.4 million project, which created 857 jobs, will deliver 2 639 units to people earning less than R3 500 per month, and is groundbreaking in its high density design.

The first 234 units are available for relocation, and six units will be ceremonially handed over to beneficiaries, all over 60 years of age. The oldest beneficiaries are 72-year old Mrs Nomalanga Ntukuthezi, who cares for two grandchildren and is also a fire victim, and 72-year old Mrs Mtebese Ndleleni, who has four dependants and is a pensioner. The elderly profiles reflect the focus of the Department on providing houses for those who most need them.

Against the current backdrop of the significant progress achieved to date, the project has had a tenuous past. Of note is the action of the community to challenge the decision of the government to relocate them to allow for construction. Following a successful application for an eviction order by the government, the community appealed this decision to the Constitutional Court. The ruling of the Court on 10 June 2009 had key implications on the course of action by the relevant government agencies. The fundamental interventions have been to:

1. Provide more housing opportunities to minimise the relocation of people.
   
   The densities in the development proposals have had to be increased. The final design proposal yielded a total of 2 639 units, up from an initial 1 500 units. This has ensured that the lives of the community are not disrupted. The settlement has a strong link with the social and economic fabric of the city of Cape Town, and enjoys proximity to transport nodes, educational facilities and economic opportunities.
    
2. Ensure consultative engagement to engender community consultation and buy-in.
   
   The Constitutional Court ruling made mention of the need to have a "meaningful engagement between the role-players to ensure that previous mistakes are not repeated." It is against this background that the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements and the Housing Development Agency adopted an approach that is based on investing both resources and time in ensuring that all parties enter into a workable agreement on the nature of the development of the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement. To achieve this, a participatory community engagement process was initiated, aimed at ensuring that as many people as possible from the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement are informed of the development and duly represented at all levels.