BuaNews (Tshwane)
Proffesor Ndawonde
3 December 2008
Cape Town — At least 1 000 families living in Delft, Cape Town, will be living in their own homes this Christmas after Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu handed over the keys to their new homes on Tuesday.
The handing over ceremony was not a normal event in the department's calendar but it was held to celebrate the integration and reconciliation which has taken place in Delft.
It has been a difficult chapter for the N2 Gateway project. A year ago there was a massive home invasion of upset residents who demanded they receive the homes.
However, now a new chapter has been opened. The Delft Precinct 7-9, has rapidly become the largest single site public housing development in the country, said the department in a statement.
The complete N2 Gateway Housing Project will see the construction of nearly 11 000 houses in Delft.
Approximately 9000 of these houses will be given to beneficiaries who qualify for the full government housing subsidy. The remaining houses are a combination of affordable bonded and rental stock, for families earning more than the required R3 500 income per household to qualify for the full government subsidy.
Many of the new homeowners previously lived in shacks in the Joe Slovo informal settlement and others were evicted earlier this year from Delft Symphony homes which they had invaded and have since been living in temporary accommodation.
Further to this approximately 3000 fully subsidised, two-bedroom homes have been allocated to the Delft area this year with thousands more now under construction under Breaking New Ground (BNG).
According to the department all the beneficiaries applied for and qualified to receive the government housing subsidy and the homes were allocated according to N2 Gateway allocation policy. Around 70 percent were allocated to former informal settlements and 30 percent to backyard dwellers.
The N2 Gateway project is a national pilot project to test the implementation of a new national housing policy that goes beyond RDP housing delivery to develop integrated settlements.
Delft provides crucial space for a green-field development breathing space for congested informal settlement
Delft is regarded as the largest public housing development in South Africa, and in the history of Cape Town, and it has become the N2 Gateway model of accelerated development. Ten months ago there were a handful of show houses Delft and now there are more than 2500 houses in various stages of development and nearly 1000 have already occupied.
The construction of permanent schools will begin early next year. "There are plans for the development of crèches and places of worship, shops and community food gardens," the department explained.
South Africa leads the world in the provision of free homes to people in need. Since 1994 more than 2.6 million free homes, accommodating more than 10 million have been delivered.
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