Makhura's rapid land plan gets a presidential seal of approval
President Cyril Ramaphosa endorsed Gauteng Premier David Makhura's plan to give away land parcels and allow those who are capable to build their own homes.
The president said he also wanted the idea implemented at national level.
Ramaphosa spent the day in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, where he visited several informal settlements, schools and attended the launch of the ANC's election campaign, Thuma Mina.
The ANC programme also fitted in a government initiative through which Ramaphosa, Makhura and Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina "symbolically" handed out title deeds to ten of the metro's residents. Several others would be handed out at a later stage.
"These title deeds are part of the land reform project that the governing party has embarked upon. It's that we should restore dignity to our people and undo the ravages of apartheid," said Ramaphosa who swapped his ANC regalia for a City of Ekurhuleni T-shirt.
He said the title deed was an important document that enabled the government to restore the dignity of South Africans.
No need for land invasions
The president acknowledged that part of Gauteng's challenge was the constant stream of people flocking to the country's economic hub. He lauded the province's government for having come up with the idea of giving land out rapidly, saying it was the best way to address the growing housing crisis.
"They are identifying pieces of land, immediately embark on servicing it and giving them to our people," remarked the president.
The premier recently announced that, instead of building RDP houses for people, which has been largely criticised for being a slow and cumbersome process, the province would make land available to people and allow them to build their own homes.
Ramaphosa said there would no longer be a need for land invasions to continue."We now must have a new policy on housing and we must build houses for people. The majority of our people say, 'give us land'."We must stop the land invasions because we are South Africans and can do things in an orderly fashion. We respect the law, the Constitution and must respect other citizens in the country," said Ramaphosa.He said government needed to lead the process and play an enabling role.
