Four elderly beneficiaries begin a new chapter in their lives today, one of first-time property ownership and a place to call their own. They received the keys to their new Breaking New Ground (BNG) homes in the City of Cape Town’s R41 million Lourensia Park Housing Project in Somerset West. The City’s Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato, and Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, was there to congratulate the new first-time home owners and to hand over their keys.
Two of the beneficiaries of the Lourensia Park housing project are Mr Gordon Flandorp (84) and Ms Louisa Adriaanse (71). They were thrilled to be among the first to receive the keys to their new homes from Councillor Booi and Mayor Plato. This phase of the project will comprise 150 opportunities.
‘The R41 million project is testament to the City’s commitment to redress and service delivery through the provision of housing opportunities. When homes are handed over to our most vulnerable residents, it empowers them as first-time property owners. Today, our beneficiaries and their families can celebrate as they begin a new chapter in their lives. This is a chapter of security as now they have a place they can call home, one that belongs to them. It is also a chapter of empowerment as they now own property for the first time in their lives,’ said Mayor Plato.
Construction was able to resume in June 2020 within health and safety Alert Level 4 regulations, after it was halted in March 2020 due to the national lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The City has worked hard over the past few weeks to make up for lost time due to the implementation of the lockdown.
‘I am so pleased to see houses being handed over to these beneficiaries today. When compared to what I saw when I visited just a few months ago, the progress is truly remarkable. The development consists of free-standing and semi-detached single-storey units, semi-detached duplexes and serviced sites. This project is an excellent example of what we can achieve for our beneficiaries and how we can contribute to improving their lives. Broad community support as well as the support from our beneficiaries and especially the Project Steering Committee made this progress possible.
‘In the previous phase, 216 units were constructed. Construction on the first phase of the houses was completed in December 2011. The progress we’ve made so far proves that when we all work together, we can complete projects and provide tangible benefits to our residents. Thank you to the teams for their hard work and absolute dedication to get this project going again in service of our beneficiaries.
‘The accommodation need in Cape Town is pronounced and we will only succeed by following a systematic approach of first come, first served without queue-jumping. We must safeguard the integrity of our housing delivery programmes despite the great pressure from urbanisation, land invasions and the diminishing national grants for human settlement developments,’ said Councillor Booi.
The selection of beneficiaries for housing projects is done in accordance with the City’s Allocation Policy and the City’s Housing Database to ensure that housing opportunities are allocated to qualifying beneficiaries in a fair and equitable manner that prevents queue-jumping.