Winners of Green Delft, Green Home Awards Announced | Western Cape Government

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Winners of Green Delft, Green Home Awards Announced

16 February 2009
The Department of Housing has given away prizes worth R40 000 to 13 winners of a gardening competition on the N2 Gateway in Delft.

At the prize-winning ceremony for the Green Delft Green Home awards, on Valentine's Day, Sibusiso Nyakambi was announced the overall winner out of 172 entries.

This former resident of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, received R5 000 for himself and R5 000 for a charitable or community organisation of his choice. He chose to support a crèche attended by 52 children of N2 Gateway beneficiaries, run by one of his neighbours, Nyameka Tyesi.

Nyakambi started working on his garden as soon as he was allocated his home in November 2007, and said he never thought his garden would be entered in a competition, let alone win.

Housing MEC Mr Whitey Jacobs told the audience: "I have seen a beautiful Delft coming together. People are starting to green their gardens and become proud home-owners. We are going beyond building houses. We are building communities so that people can change their lives."

Siyabulela Manciya was the runner-up and won R6 000. He donated R3 000 to two of the newly established schools on the N2 Gateway, the Hindle Road primary and secondary schools.

This is because his two daughters, six-year-old Alungile and 14-year-old Nontombi, are enrolled in the schools and he would like to support their education.

In third place was Carl Arendse, who previously lived in a shack in the backyards of Belhar. He won R4 000, of which he donated R2 000 to a community centre in The Hague Avenue in Delft, the Nelson Mandela Peace Park.

Ten other prizes were awarded. A popular winner was Aunty Katie Hoffman, the country's first recipient of a new-standard two-bedroom BNG home who received a special mention in the Premier's State of the Province address the previous day. She won R2 000.

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