MEC Maile hands over title deeds in Palm Ridge
Even after receiving his title deed, Clement Mahlobo (56) still needed assurance that his house will never be taken from his children even when he is gone.
Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and CoGTA Lebogang Maile handed over title deeds to beneficiaries at Thinasonke at Palm Ridge, on October 28.
Maile was accompanied by MMC for Human Settlement Lesiba Mpya. They handed over 707 title deeds to residents.
One of the residents who received their title deed, Gloria Khehla (58) from Thinasonke, said she hasn’t felt this happy in a long time.
“I feel so happy, I have been waiting for my title deed for a long time. There are many things we wanted to do at the house but we could not.
“We need to build more rooms because the children are all grown, they need to have their bedrooms outside since the space is small inside. So, we needed things like getting a plan from the municipality to extend the house but we could not obtain it because of the title deed,” said Khehla.
Khehla said she does not remember when they moved to Thinasonke but at the time they were moving them from a place called Station in Alberton.
“We were moved with our shacks. When we got here, there were only toilets. It did not take long for them to build houses for us, it took about four years,” she said.
When asked about service delivery in the area, Khehla said she is not satisfied with the services.
“We still do not have a lot of things like schools. Our children travel long distances to go to school using public transport and it is expensive. We do not have playing fields for children or a clinic for the community, there are still a lot of things missing,” she concluded.
Even after receiving his title deed, Clement Mahlobo (56) still needed assurance that his house will never be taken from his children even when he is gone. His concern is that the title deed does not have the names of his children.
Mpya explained to Mahlobo and other senior citizens that the title deed converts the ownership of the house to them (title deed holders).
He said they offer free legal aid to people who wish to do a will to indicate a person of their choice who will inherit the house.
Moipone Motlalatse (60) said it has been over 15 years of waiting for her title deed.
“I finally received my title deed. I am so happy having the security that no one can claim my house from us,” said Motlalatse.
She said she understood the process of doing a will and although it is hard to choose the person to get the house, it is something she is considering doing.
Maile confirmed that 707 title deeds will be handed over to their rightful owners during an interview with the media. Instead of responding to questions posed by the media, he responded by posing questions to journalists.
