Failing ANC’s mismanagement robs people of houses, title deeds in North West

26 November 2018

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West is shocked by the lack of urgency by the MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Fenny Gaolaolwe, in distributing title deeds to homeowners thereby denying residents access to economic opportunities and wealth creation.

We call upon the MEC to urgently conduct a land audit to ascertain how many title deeds are still outstanding on houses that were already delivered, as the Auditor-General (AG) could not confirm the numbers due to a lack of audit evidence.

According to the AG’s 2017/2018 report, only 953 out of the targeted 24001 title deeds have been issued.

This shockingly low 3.97% percentage is another clear indication of the failing ANC’s indifference towards the people of this province.

Title deeds give people ownership and ultimately economic empowerment.

Land ownership enables communities to build savings and wealth for their children. This failure to deliver on the targeted transfer of deeds denied 23048 people of much needed opportunities.

The AG also found that only half of all targeted housing units could be delivered due to the Department’s appointment of service providers without the necessary capacity.

This amplifies their failure in planning and promoting integrated and sustainable human settlements as per their mandate.

The failing ANC should hang their heads in shame after for receiving a qualified audit opinion, their failure to adhere to prior years’ findings, especially with regards to irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R112 million for the 2017/2018 financial year.

In Tshwane, where the DA governs, we sold the mayoral mansion and used the money to build 40 RDP houses for our people who are in desperate need of housing.

We are giving people the dignity they deserve and the security of tenure by handing over 4417 title deeds to residents in Tshwane. While we have also connected water and electricity supply to those who have previously had no access to these basic services under the failing ANC.

We also handed over more than 5140 title deeds to residents in Braamfischerville, Diepkloof, Pennyville, Eldorado Park, Meadowlands and Orlando in Soweto in the two years since it took over the City of Johannesburg.

All in all DA governments across the country have delivered more than 100 000 title deeds to date. This shows our commitment to full scale home ownership.

This clearly indicates that where the DA governs, we are accountable to all our citizens. Through our commitment to foster a people-centred government, the DA will bring this change to all communities.

Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Premier Candidate, 26 November 2018