Cape Town - The City of Cape Town will hand over new houses to beneficiaries in Philippi before the Easter weekend, the municipality said on Wednesday.
Member of the mayoral committee (MMC) responsible for human settlement, Tandeka Gqada, said the project was in its final stage and houses would be handed over on Thursday.
“Despite the hurdles faced during this housing project, the City is pleased to announce that some of the critical housing needs in Philippi East have been addressed by the provision of new homes to 432 deserving beneficiaries.”
She said project was initiated in 2003 and had experienced several obstacles which hampered the completion of the development and the handing over of houses to beneficiaries.
“The city faced a number of challenges, which included the facilitation of the community’s involvement and illegal operations being conducted on the site allocated for development.”
She said the problem was solved when the municipality engaged with the provincial department of human settlements to acquire additional vacant land adjacent to the site.
“This land would accommodate all beneficiaries from this area who had requested a house from the city,” she said.
Gqada said that in March this year, while the contractor was in the process of completing the remaining additional units allocated to the project, a group of people illegally entered the site, and started occupying and vandalising the newly built houses. - Sapa