 Title
deeds handed over in Alex
Several people received their title deeds in person in
Alexandra, but there are still almost a thousand waiting to be
collected at the council offices.
HAROLD Manciya of house number 5224 Extension 7 in Alexandra
could not believe his ears when his name was called to get a title
deed for his house.
The wheelchair-bound Manciya could not stop smiling as he wheeled
his way to the front. “I am ecstatic, over the moon and very excited,”
he said. “If I had money, I [would] have a braai to celebrate.”
Manciya, who lives alone, explained that he was happy to finally have
full ownership of the house he had been occupying for the past four
years. He was one of 40 Extension 7 residents who received their title
deeds from the City’s member of the mayoral committee for housing,
Ruby Mathang, on 14 May.
Mathang told people that a title deed meant money in their pocket
because they would be able to give their houses as security when
applying for business and personal loans. He also shared that it meant
that they would be able to leave an inheritance to their children.
“A title deed allows you to have a lot of opportunities because a
house is an immovable asset and its value appreciates with time.”
He said the City of Joburg was dedicated to returning dignity to
disadvantaged people and would not rest for as long as people lived in
abject poverty. “Our South Africa must be changed. It should be
different; it should not be the South Africa of yesterday but it
should be a developed South Africa of the future.”
Just 40 title deeds were issued on the day, but the spokesperson for
the City’s housing department, Bubu Xuba, explained that there were
980 title deeds available for residents of Extension 7 to collect at
their nearest housing offices.
Extension 7 is located on the East Bank of Alexandra. There are 1 407
RDP houses occupied by former shack dwellers from the Old Alexandra.
It has electricity, running water and tarred roads.
It falls under the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP), which was launched
by former president Thabo Mbeki in February 2001. The project, which
focused on improving living conditions in Alex through building
houses, creating green open space, building libraries and sports
stadiums, upgrading existing cemeteries, skills development training
and opening shopping centres, was to be implemented over seven years
with an estimated budget of R1,3-billion.
In April 2008, it was extended for two years by Nomvula Mokonyane, who
was the Gauteng MEC for housing at the time. Mokonyane is now the
premier of Gauteng.
In the first phase of the ARP in 2001, 11 000 residents were moved
from the banks of the Jukskei River, an area prone to floods, to Bram
Fischerville, in Soweto and Diepsloot, in the north of Joburg.
During this first phase, which ended in 2004, several housing projects
were completed, including 880 houses in River Park, 181 houses in
Extension 8, over 1 400 units in Extension 7, 520 rented rooms on the
East Bank, 52 RDP flats in Marlboro, 350 social housing units in Old
Alexandra and 298 hostel rooms converted in Old Alexandra.
From 2005, the ARP undertook to build 9 500 RDP houses, 5 700
affordable rental houses, 2 500 upgraded hostels, 2 850 social housing
units and 950 bonded and credit linked houses to meet the original
target of relocating 25 000 households from Old Alexandra.
Alexandra has a rich history and is home to cultural icons, activists
and sporting personalities. It was established in 1912 on land
originally owned by a farmer, who tried to establish a white
residential township.
However, the plan did not work because it was far from Joburg city. As
a result, the area was declared a native township. By 1916, the
population of Alex, as it is affectionately known, had grown to 30 000
people.
Today, the heavily populated area borders on and contrasts with
Sandton, one of the wealthiest suburbs in South Africa. In the past,
Alex was characterised by scarcity of land, lack of proper houses and
a high unemployment rate. But in recent years, it has been rejuvenated
through the presidential ARP.
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