MEC Siwela hands over title deeds

Dignity was restored to over 480 households from Emjindini last Thursday when the MEC for human settlements, Violet Siwela handed them their title deeds.
Speaking at the event, which took place at Emjindini community hall, Siwela said the title deeds were one of the key functions of her department as it ensured security of tenure to all housing beneficiaries.

“In the previous regime, people did not have full security of tenure to their properties or houses and as the current leading government we want to restore the dignity of our people. As an ANC leading government, we are not only build decent houses alone but we also ensure that the house have electricity installed as wall as water and sanitation,” said Siwela.

She said her department planned to deliver 10 000 title deeds across the whole province during the 2015/16 financial year. More than 5 000 title deeds were issued in the 2014/15 financial year.
Siwela further urged the beneficiaries to look after their homes and take care of their title deeds to ensure that they could pass it on to their children and generations to come.

“A title deed is a legal document that reflects the ownership of a property, therefore it is extremely important as it allows homeowners to make decisions that will improve their living circumstances and also offers a sense of pride and of belonging to beneficiaries in their communities,” said Siwela.

She added that the beneficiaries could also use their deeds to unlock bank loans to improve their lives.
“A payslip alone does not guarantee you any bank loans. Title deeds are very critical to ensure not only security of tenure but also that households can use their houses as an asset to build wealth. Receiving the title deed to your homes today makes you an official homeowner and allows you to use your property as collateral to secure finance from banks for other assets such as the purchase of vehicles for example,” said Siwela.

Earlier on, Siwela had visited two elderly people from Emjindini where she handed them their title deeds.
One of them was 92-year old Veronica Nkosi, who resides at Extension 13 with her grandchildren. Nkosi couldn’t hide her excitement after being handed her title deed. “I feel like I can fly. I’m very excited that my home will now be registered under my name,” she said.

Among those who accompanied Siwela were Mbombela Local Municipality member of the mayoral committee for human settlements, Busi Mdhluli and Umjindi councillor for Ward 3, Sakhile Msibi. Umjindi executive mayor, Lazaros Mashaba could not attend the event following the delay in Siwela”s arrival. The event was expected to start at 10:00 but only commenced at 13:00. Furious residents, mostly elderly, waited for Siwela from 09:00 and by the time she arrived around 13:00, they were complaining of starving.