Lady Selbourne: new lease of life

The first group of beneficiaries of keys to their new homes in Lady Selborne. Pic: Amanda Khoza

The first group of beneficiaries of keys to their new homes in Lady Selborne. Pic: Amanda Khoza

Published Dec 17, 2014

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Johannesburg -

Lady Selbourne, the scene of forced removals by the apartheid government, has risen from the ashes just weeks before turning 110 years.

Piet Lechelele was the first beneficiary to receive keys to his new RDP house from Gauteng Premier David Makhura to mark the return of racially integrated property ownership to the area since 1958.

The remainder of the 299 units will be allocated before Christmas, Makhura said.

Lechelele, dressed in a black and white Orlando Pirates shirt, was ecstatic as he walked up the steps to his upper floor unit.

Behind him were Makhura, MEC for Human Settlements and Co-operative Governance Jacob Mamabolo, and Tshwane human settlements MMC Joshua Ngonyama.

“This is my first time ever to own a house,” said Lechelele, adding he would be moving in with his family of three within a week.

Pirates supporters behind him jokingly encouraged him to decorate the house in the colours of the Absa Premiership club.

Lady Selbourne, located in Suiderberg about 10km north-west of the city, was established in 1905 as an area where black people could own land.

Towards the end of the 1940s, property prices were inflated, resulting in landowners renting out their homes and building rooms for leasing.

This led to overcrowding, and in 1949, when Lady Selbourne was incorporated into the City of Pretoria, it had 1 952 registered properties.

The apartheid government used the situation to portray Lady Selbourne as an overpopulated township and a health hazard.

Government argued the area was undesirable and too close to the white areas.

In June 1958, proclamations were passed which declared areas that would be subject to forced removals, among them Lady Selbourne.

Many residents claimed their homes were bulldozed at the last minute without giving them enough time to pack their belongings.

But the past was forgotten when Makhura told beneficiaries all races would live together in peace at the new houses without fear of eviction.

Makhura said this time around, no one would take the new houses away. “Lady Selbourne has risen from the ashes of the one that was destroyed,” he said.

“What we see in this development is the integration of people from all races, something that was taken from them by the then government. These people will once again spend their Christmas as a fully integrated community.”

He said the principle of one house up, one shack down should apply and urged residents to never sell their houses nor rent them out and return to their old shacks.

“If you do that, we will hound you out of this province. If the shacks remain standing, we will never see progress with regards to their eradication,” Makhura said.

He promised to weed out corruption in the housing system and ensure houses were allocated to their rightful beneficiaries.

In all mega settlements, such as Lady Selbourne, Makhura said beneficiaries would be those in desperate need, and preference would be given to local residents.

Mamabolo said he was privileged to be part of the administration that restored the dignity and rights of the people in Lady Selbourne through housing.

He said: “Never again will you be evicted from here; no government will come here and throw you out.

“These houses and all future infrastructure developments in this area will benefit all citizens, irrespective of their race and colour.”

On completion of all phases, the Lady Selbourne mixed-housing development project will consist of 5 700 units.

Beneficiaries will choose from RDP, low income, conventional bonded, finance-linked subsidy and rental stock.

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Pretoria News

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