After six long years, the Nelson Mandela Municipality finally began to hand over the deeds to the RDP residents of Motherwell’s NU29 in Gqeberha.
But of the more than 5,000 households in the municipality, a grand total of six households received their uncollected title deeds on Tuesday.
Like many informal settlements around the metro, the area was formed in 2010 through illegal land invasion. The RDP houses were eventually built following a standoff for basic services with the municipality.
Over two hundred residents from NU 29 in Motherwell were invited by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for a title deed handover ceremony. However, only a handful of those residents received the long awaited proof of ownership.
Sindiswa Bishini, one of only six residents who received their title deeds on Tuesday, told Scrolla.Africa she was grateful to the municipality for restoring her dignity.
“I am grateful because for 22 years I stayed in a shack, but through the government’s efforts I’ve been occupying my own home for six years and today I have received confirmation that I really own the house.”
Meanwhile, many residents were left disappointed after the municipal system showed that their title deeds were still awaiting approval from the conveyancing attorney’s office.
Resident, Thembinkosi Ndleleni, one of many who did not receive their title deeds on Tuesday, expressed his disappointment with the municipality.
“I am grateful to have my own home, however, I’m disappointed with how the municipality called us here to watch other people receive their title deeds. The municipality should have called only those whose deeds were ready. This is not well organised,” he said.
Another resident, Bulelwa Dumako, revealed that she feared that she may not receive the title deed for the home that she has been occupying for the past six years.
“I’m worried that I may not receive the deed to my house today because I was relocated from another area where I had a site number and told that my house would not fit into the layout of the housing plan for that area,” she said.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s political head for human settlements, Councillor Thukela Zumani, said his directorate had a challenge of mismatched allocated sites.
“We’ve noted that our beneficiaries leave their allocated sights as soon as they start seeing development in other areas, thinking that they’ll get their houses faster. This results in the mismatching of allocated sites and the actual occupation of the site,” he said.
Zumani apologised to the visibly disappointed residents who hadn’t received their title deeds on Tuesday, saying that they would have to wait until April, when a second batch would be released.
Pictured above: Resident Sindiswa Bishini receiving her title deed from the Department of Human Settlements’ MMC Thukela Zumani
Image source: Anita Dangazele
