Speech Excerpts from Minister Madikizela's Address at Housing Handover in Wolseley

The Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, handed over houses in Pine Valley, Wolseley, on Friday, 2 March 2012, and made the following keynote address.

"Today's development is as a result of many people working together. It's only when we work better together with communities that we can deliver sustainable human settlements."

"I want to thank the community for their patience. There have been no demonstrations in Wolseley, and this has let us work better together with the community to smoothly deliver services."

"It is true that the province and the country are grappling with an increasing demand for houses. Nationally, the backlog is about 1.3 million. In the Western Cape, it's around 500 000. Human settlements delivery competes for funding with other needs, such as health and education. It's not possible for the government to provide all the housing needs as quickly as we would like. This is why we need to work better together to find solutions for the housing demand."

"Today is a special day because people will be getting title deeds. If you have a title deed, it's insurance for their families to have a roof over their heads. Title deeds will also let you get a loan and financial help. The title deed is proof that you own the house. Once you get your title deeds, you must keep your homes, for your children and grandchildren. This is the biggest gift the government will give you, and I encourage you to take care of it. We as the government are doing our best to provide homes, yet once we hand this home over to you, you must make sure you maintain your home. If something like a door handle is broken, you must take responsibility and fix it. Those people getting homes today are the fortunate few, as there are so many people waiting for houses and will still wait for a long time."

Pine Valley is situated in Wolseley on the western side of the railway track. The project was initially approved in 1996 for 707 beneficiaries, but this was blocked in 1999. The Wolseley Municipality was later consolidated with Witzenberg Municipality, which then took over the housing responsibilities. The project was unblocked in 2008.

Basic services were completed in November 2009. The first houses were finished in July 2008 and the final houses in August 2010, with a total of 570 houses being delivered. The houses are all Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses and are for beneficiaries earning less than R3 500 per month. Minister Madikizela will perform a ceremonial handover of ten houses.

A total of R41.8 million has been spent on the Pine Valley housing project. The municipality intends to deliver another 200 serviced sites to accommodate the people who did not qualify for the houses.