HUNDREDS of subsidy housing beneficiaries in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality expressed joy and a sense of relief when they received housing title deeds to affirm the ownership rights to their homes last week.
This comes as the city kick-started the 2023 title deeds handover programme in Motherwell – just in this area a total of 1 788 titles have not been collected. While a total of 98 278 subsidy housing beneficiaries have recently collected their title deeds, the city still has 6 535 of uncollected titles.
NMBM Human Settlements Mayoral Committee, Cllr Tukela Zumani, said the City was on a drive to ensure that owners had their titles to restore their dignity and take away any uncertainty.
“Last year we employed workers through EPWP to actually go door-to-door to verify and tell the owners that their titles are available and from that we have received a lot of useful data.
“There are many reasons why we have thousands of these titles, and they include the fact that a lot of the people that own the houses don’t live in them. People have to collect their titles, but you find that people are not aware of such information due to the fact that the process between getting approval and getting the house is long and sometimes there is a lot of verification that takes place to ensure that we have the correct owners.
“Some of the owners are deceased but their families can actually have the titles,” Zumani said.
He added that “in the case of deceased beneficiaries a family member can collect the title deed provided they have a Letter of Authority from the Master of the High Court to do so.”
Uncollected title deeds per areas are as follows:
Despatch: 43
Ibhayi area: 751
KwaNobuhle: 2 311
Motherwell: 1 788
Northern Areas: 832
Uitenhage: 587
Walmer: 301
Resident Sindiswa Bishini (60) said that she was overjoyed to finally have proof that her house belongs to her.
“It is such a relief to finally have this piece of paper. I can die in peace and leave my children with something tangible, so that they don’t struggle when I die. We often see disputes in families, and in our communities, and title deeds assist to resolve such fights. As owners of these houses, it is only fair that we also have official documents to prove such. Our dignity has been restored,” said Bishini.
To collect title deeds, owners are required to produce ID as proof of ownership, or in the case of a deceased beneficiary, a Letter of Authority is needed. Members of the public are also encouraged to visit the municipal offices, 8th Floor Starport Building, 140 Govan Mbeki Avenue, Gqeberha, and contact Mssrs. E. Greeff and K.Giagas during normal working hours.
– ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE NMBM BY MEDIA LIAISON OFFICER, MAMELA NDAMASE
