The waiting list backlog of residents looking to receive a home within the Saldanha Bay municipal area is estimated at 12 811 applicants.
This according to a statement by die Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM).
If you are one of the hopeful applications be sure to update your details on the waiting list every six months to ensure successful applications, the municipality urges.
Although municipalities are not responsible for providing housing to residents, they work closely with the Western Cape government to get those who qualify into a home.
Municipalities are responsible for assisting applicants and, where relevant, identifying and approving subsidy applications.
On 28 September 2023 the Saldanha Bay Municipality approved such applications for the Louwville housing project.
The criteria was as follows: . Households headed by persons who are 60 years of age or older. In the case of the Louwville project, there were too few individuals in the priority group and individuals in cohorts of five years were selected, ie age group 59-55 years of age. Households headed by military veterans. Households affected by permanent disability within ward. Households affected by permanent disability. Households headed by individuals older than 60 years who were on the broader Vredenburg waiting list.
Prospective applicants’ names were taken from the demands database and were submitted to province. A screening was then done to identify deceased, establish correct identity details and persons who received subsidies.
A pre-screened list of possible beneficiaries was advertised in the Weslander on 19 October 2023. Community members had the chance to provide feedback on these names by 2 November 2023.
The Saldanha Bay Municipality received feedback with 46 inputs received.
After this feedback, which included specific complaints, the municipality considered all feedback and compiled a Final Prospective list of Beneficiaries, published in Weslander on 25 January.
Applicants on the list were invited to apply for subsidies; subject to the following additional verification. This forms part of the subsidy application process by the Provincial Department of Infrastructure:. Income to be verified with the Department of Labour (DoL) – unless a person is not registered for UIF or registered with the DoL by the employer;. Identity details to be verified with the Department of Home Affairs;. Deeds searches to be conducted to confirm ownership of property, nationally;. Housing Subsidy system to be checked whether an applicant or spouse received a subsidy nationally.
In addition, confirmation of property ownership is verified to prevent dual property registration.
Following the process, 46 subsidy applications for the Louwville housing project have been completed to date.
All possible avenues will be followed to invite persons on the list of prospective beneficiaries to apply for subsidy applications.
In the event of insufficient applications, the necessary processes will be followed until all the houses have been fully allocated.
Projects are not divided or selected based on racial demarcation, but rather based on the time frame when a specific ward received a housing project.
For example, Wards 13 (Yskor, Selfbou and part of Louwville), 10 (Vredenburg South and part of Louwville), 8 (Vredenburg North, Green Village and Langebaan Air Force Base) and 2 (Witteklip) have not benefited in the past 15 years.
In recent projects within the Saldanha Bay Municipal area the selection of beneficiaries was done based on age-based prioritisation, as regulated by the relevant Provincial circular.
This applies wherever relevant, where the catchment area does not have sufficient applicants older than 60 years, and individuals were selected based on longest registered on the waiting list.
