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Today, Premier Alan Winde participated in a handover of allotments to the Covie Community where he was joined by the Provincial Minister of Human Settlements, Tertius Simmers. The ceremony was presided over by the Deputy President, Mr David Mabuza. 

The hand over is a result of a restitution claim which has been anticipated for many years. It is comprised on 5359 hectares, and 16 allotments.

The Covie community will now not only have secure ownership but an opportunity to leverage and generate economic returns from their land.

Said Premier Winde: “I am very pleased that the Covie community has received their title deeds. I would like to stress the importance of home ownership in empowering residents. Ownership will provide new opportunities for the beneficiaries here today, and for their family members in generations to come.”

Furthering home ownership is a key priority for the Western Cape Government, as it is an important tool in bringing dignity to residents.

Since the 2017/18 financial year, the Western Cape Government has delivered over 26 000 top structures and just under 24 500 serviced sites. This is more than 50 000 housing opportunities during this period. Despite the Title Deed Restoration Grant coming to a halt, we will still be able to transfer 8 110 Title Deeds to qualifying beneficiaries in the 2021/22 financial year.

Qualifying and deserving beneficiaries continue to move into their new homes in Vredebes in Ceres, Vlakkeland in Paarl, in Velddrif on the West Coast, in Grabouw. In the Cape Metro, beneficiaries are moving into the Forest Village Catalytic project. By the end of February, a total of 2578 units had been handed over to beneficiaries. Of these, 579 are from the N2 Gateway, 504 from the Southern Corridor, 145 are Priority Cases and the majority, 1350, are from the immediate area.

Yesterday, Premier Winde and Minister Simmers visited the Mountain View Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP) in Mosselbay, which is in construction, and the Syferfontein IRDP in George.

The Mountain View IRDP which commenced in July 2019 with a budget of R 297 million is estimated to be completed by July 2022. Upon conclusion it is expected to create 1 006 housing opportunities, which consists of 725 BNG units, 278 FLISP units, 1 Commercial Sites and 2 public open spaces/Playground.

The Syferfontein IRDP in George which has a budget of R 434 million commenced August 2018 and is expected to be concluded later this year. It is set to deliver 2 113 housing opportunities. This will consist of 1 668 Breaking New Ground (BNG)/free housing, 233 FLISP and various other commercial, faith and social entities. To date, 67 qualifying and deserving beneficiaries have already moved in.

Said Minister Simmers: “In our efforts to reverse apartheid spatial planning, the Western Cape Government has created differentiated housing programmes for the affordable (gap) housing market to promote property ownership. This includes Deferred ownership which means that a potential buyer who is unable to get a bond to purchase a property, can in the interim enter a rent/lease to buy contract with a willing seller.”

The Western Cape Government is further driving ownership through its successful land reform support programmes. The Department of Agriculture completed an external land reform study to evaluate the performance of agricultural land reform projects that had been supported during the period, 2014 - 2019. The study found that it had a 72% success rate from a population of 243 projects, which represents a 10% improvement from the previous study undertaken to determine the success of projects between 2009 and 2013.

The Department of Agriculture’s “One Home One Garden Project” is another key initiative to bring dignity. Through it we assist households, communities and schools to start vegetable gardens. Home gardens are an integral part of the local food systems and the agricultural landscape within developing countries all over the world.

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture aims to:

• Ensure the affordability; availability and accessibility of nutritious food for domestic consumption through own production.
• Assist households to be able to produce enough food to meet basic household food security needs throughout the year.
• Improve family nutrition while generating additional income from the sale of surplus production.
• Encourage the use of greywater system to aid water efficiency.

In total, the Department of Agriculture has established 19 such gardens in the Covie area. In the Garden Route, we have established 550 household gardens, six community gardens and six school gardens.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier