Cape Town - The City of Cape Town handed over 35 title deeds to qualifying Mfuleni beneficiaries on Tuesday. The 35 first-time homeowners will be joined by an additional 590 in the coming months.
“Handing over of title deeds to beneficiaries is one of the City’s key priorities to bringing about redress, and today we celebrate with the latest Mfuleni property owners,” the City’s mayoral committee member for human settlements Malusi Booi said.
Mfuleni is located on the periphery of Cape Town, roughly 32km outside the CBD, adjacent to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
Police Minister Bheki Cele released the country’s quarterly crime statistics for the third quarter of 2021/2022 last month which revealed Mfuleni is within the the top 30 police stations in terms of murder and one of eight Western Cape police stations in the top 30.
Booi said the title deeds handed to Mfuleni residents will provide dignity and may act to empower generations. He urged the new homeowners to take care of their property and make informed decisions about wills in order to pass down the assets to the next generation.
Funding from Free Market Foundation’s (FMF) Khaya Lam made these transfers possible with funding from South Africans and philanthropists beyond the country’s borders.
“The cost of titling a modest house with an average value of R100 000 is advertised at about R6 500. The current Khaya Lam cost is R2 750 (which includes the cost of all the administration, fund-raising and titling costs),” explains the organisation.
“There are between five and seven million such properties with at least 20 million South Africans living insecurely in these homes. Many are homes built by the apartheid government in so-called ‘dormitory’ townships across the country. Many families built their own small houses but even so hold no title,” the FMF adds.
Booi thanked Khaya Lam for its donations, which assisted in making the transfers possible.
IOL