NC government robs 13 500 beneficiaries of title deeds

by Andrew Louw – Provincial Leader

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Date: 02 July 2018

Release: Immediate

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned that more than 13 500 potential beneficiaries of state housing in the Northern Cape have been inexplicably removed from the title deeds waiting list and are thus being robbed of long awaited ownership rights.

A reply to a written question by the provincial Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) on 8 June 2018, indicates that the title deed backlog has recently been sliced from 24 865 to 11 345. According to the department, the reduction is the result of a “scrubbing during 2017/2018 into all properties not yet transferred”.

Curiously, however, the amount of 24 865 appeared in the department’s latest Annual Performance Plan for 2018/2019. It was also referred to as a valid figure in a separate reply to another parliamentary question that was dated 6 June 2018, just two days before the department announced the reduced title deed backlog.

The DA is questioning the almost overnight reduction of the title deed backlog.

Some people have waited for years to receive their title deeds, to no avail. Some people may even have passed away during this lengthy wait. Neither these beneficiaries, nor their children, should be robbed of their property rights, of their inheritance and of the opportunity of having a home to call their own, simply because the inefficient state delayed the handover of title deeds.

Property ownership puts people locked out of economic opportunity on the first rung of the asset accumulation ladder. It allows people to leverage this asset, to generate income, and to leave a real asset for their children after they pass away.

The DA will submit follow-up parliamentary questions to CoGHSTA to probe the title deed backlog reduction. For every name removed from the list, we want to know for how long the beneficiary was on the list and also the exact reason why they were removed.

The high title deed backlog exists because, for the past 24 years, the ANC has been too busy enriching themselves and driving dissident agendas, to care about meeting the needs of the people.

Where the DA governs, we will continue to deliver tens of thousands of title deeds to make people real home owners, not just tenants of the state.

Only change under a DA-led government will ensure that access to ownership provides the freedom and opportunity that all South Africans deserve.

Media Enquiries

Andrew Louw

Provincial Leader

082 383 6914

Shelley De Witt

Researcher

082 847 1387