Ten families receive homes from housing project

CAPE TOWN mayor Patricia de Lille presented the keys of 10 new homes to families at the inauguration of a housing project in Atlantis.

The Pella Town project, which cost the city R19.6 million, would house 180 families once completed in August next year. The beneficiaries included the elderly, residents living with disabilities and some indigent residents, who had been living on land adjacent to Klein Dassenberg Road for years.

The property was previously owned by the Moravian Church before pieces of the land were transferred into the names of the beneficiaries by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development more than 10 years ago.

Significant progress was made over the weekend with the first batch of residents moving into to their homes.

The houses were being handed out in phases, and batches of beneficiaries would move in every month until the project was completed next year.

The two-bedroom houses consist of an open-plan kitchen, dining area and a bathroom. Contractors were in the process of completing 10 homes for residents with disabilities, these homes would have wheelchair ramps, wider doors and modified bathrooms.

“We are delighted to be able to restore dignity to our residents. It gives me great pleasure to hand over the keys to the new homes to the beneficiaries because it has been a journey of decades for many of them,” De Lille said. De Lille also added that she hoped the beneficiaries would continue to set an example to the community to be responsible for further successes in their area.

“Some of the key priorities pursued by the Transport and Urban Development Authority are to promote security of tenure for residents in less formal areas and to partner with the private sector and other government departments in addressing the housing need in Cape Town.”