Dear Residents
Last week, the MEC for Human Settlements, Ms Nonkqubela Pieters visited Makana Municipality. The purpose of her visit was twofold. First, the MEC came to hand over a house to the family of the late Nonzima Lizzie Magamle. Ms Magamle passed away on 8 June 2019 at the age of 105, leaving behind her three children. Although she was allocated an erf number, her house was never built. Ms Magamle’s plight was highlighted by one of her grandchildren through social media. Her story was picked up by a Daily Dispatch journalist who published it. At the time of her death, the foundations of her house werre being laid.
The four-roomed, fully furnished house was built by MMS Construction as part of their social responsibility. Among the items MMS Construction donated were two beds, a sofa, a coffee table, a kitchen cabinet, kitchen utensils curtains and groceries to the value of R1000.
The second purpose of the MEC’s visit was to hand over title deeds to the residents of Transit Camp – a project consisting of 440 houses. A verification process was undertaken as title deeds can only be given to the legal owners of the houses. The table below is a summary of the 380 houses that were verified.
As can be seen from the above table, challenges experienced include:
1. Estate related issues;
2. Alleged illegal selling of houses; and
3. Alleged illegal renting out of houses ( sometimes to foreign nationals).
The following steps are intended to address these challenges:
1. Letters are issued to the executor of the estate to ask the Department of
Justice for a ruling for the transfer to legal person of the estate;
2. An affidavit is obtained with full details of purchase, including the transaction date;
3. Affidavits are obtained from owners, confirming rental and/or affidavits are requested from tenants with rental agreements.
Giving security of tenure to rightful owners is one way of restoring their dignity.
Honourable Executive Mayor Councillor Mzukisi Mpahlwa
