Over 3 000 participate in housing database verification/registration in George | Western Cape Government

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Over 3 000 participate in housing database verification/registration in George

17 September 2019

Western Cape Human Settlements Minister, Tertuis Simmers, says he is pleased with the response to this past weekend’s housing database verification and registration drive, which was piloted in the George municipal area.

Over the two days, 3 290 residents heeded the call and made their way to the various venues across George. Of these, 1 325 updated their details, 897 were new registrations, while 1 068 verified their information.

Residents could register or verify their details in Borchards; two venues in Thembalethu; the Rosedale Community Hall; Rosemoor; Pacaltsdorp and the Housing Offices in the municipal Parking lot. 

Minister Simmers said: “I’d like to commend those community members who took personal responsibility and made the effort to register, verify or update their details. I’d also like to express my gratitude to our exceptional stakeholders, which include provincial Human Settlements staff members, the George municipality and the Community Development Workers (CDW’s) for their unwavering dedication, commitment and assistance this past weekend.

This is part of our radical implementation, innovative and integrated approach with all stakeholders in addressing various concerns raised about the validity of housing waiting lists and to also ensure their accuracy.

Despite the successes over the weekend, a few concerns were highlighted including:

  1. A large majority of people did not collect the new registration form beforehand, and therefore did not have the copies of the required documents to support their applications. This unfortunately resulted in some not being assisted with the registration.  On a positive note, a number of people returned the completed forms with the necessary supporting documentation.  
  2. Some residents sought information on housing projects and subsidy programmes, even though this was not the key focus of the pilot drive.
     

I would like to take this opportunity to further encourage and urge all those wanting a housing opportunity to visit their local libraries or housing offices, as application forms are available at these locations.

The data will now be collated, assessed and analysed to form the basis for future endeavours. In addition, with the lessons learnt during this past weekend we will utilise this as a benchmark as we prepare for the full roll out during October and November 2019. In due course appropriate dates and venues will be communicated.

As the Western Cape Government, we remain committed to accelerating human settlement delivery, while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, resilient and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity society.”

Media Enquiries: 

Marcellino Martin
Spokesperson for Minister Tertuis Simmers
Tel: 021 483 3397
Cell: 082 721 3362
Email: Marcellino.martin@westerncape.gov.za