A group of 20 Lentegeur residents from Ward 76 have received their title deeds in a special ceremony hosted at Subcouncil 12 offices with officials.
Mayco member for human settlements, Carl Pophaim was accompanied by Portfolio Committee chair Anda Ntsodo and councillors for the special handover on Wednesday 11 October.
Ward 76 councillor Avron Plaatjies says the tears and smiles warm his heart.
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“This moment is about you. This is something that you have waited for. We are honoured to share this with you,” he said to the recipients at the event.
Pophaim says the initiative is empowering residents through ownership of land. The process began earlier this year and sees the City of Cape Town absorbing the costs of legal fees to have homes transferred to qualifying residents.
Ntsodo says: “In this province, we are removing stops to implement land reform progress. We give people land and the property on top. Something that is not really happening in other provinces. We will continue to do so.”
Pophaim, who has been at the helm of the directorate for the past two months says this is long overdue. “You are entitled to this deed. It is years later that you are getting it. Better late than never, but this is something due to you and should have been given to you a long time ago,” he said at the event.
Desiree Anthony could not contain her excitement or tears as she jumped for joy at the event.
“I have been waiting for 15 years and to keep this piece of paper in my hand, it is like being born again,” she says.
Yusuf Adams had a tear in his eye when expressing how happy he was to finally receive this deed.
“It has been almost 40 years. I feel good. It is by time. If you look and see these are seniors who have waited and it took long but it has happened.”
Abeeda and Mogamat Sharkie Nicholas, who celebrated their wedding anniversary on Thursday, say this was a wonderful anniversary gift.
“I am happy that we finally have this. I always wondered about it and what would happen if I died and then Abeeda would need to run around for it,” says Mogamat Sharkie.
Nabweya Peplouw says the wait was made worth it by the fact that they can now plan for future generations.
While residents have been living in their homes for more than 30 years, some have been waiting on average between five and 15 years for the deeds to be transferred.
