On Monday 19 February, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Minister Tertuis Simmers, and Drakenstein Executive Mayor Conrad Poole visited the Vlakkeland housing development and handed over new houses.
The Vlakkeland housing development is earmarked to deliver 2556 housing opportunities upon completion and will include a commercial site. To date 755 houses have been handed over to beneficiaries, and 958 serviced sites have been completed.
Yesterday, 3 families who previously resided on farms and backyard dwellings, received the keys to their new houses from the Premier of the Western Cape. These homes are fitted with solar geyser panels. For the family of Mr. and Mrs. Malgas, whose 36-year-old wheelchair-bound daughter, it was a day of tears of joy. “We have spent many years struggling to move from backyard to backyard without aid for our wheelchair-bound daughter. Today our prayers have been answered and we are grateful to the Western Cape Government for making this possible for us, most importantly for our daughter’” said Mr. Malgas.
Before 2019 the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure made changes to the identification of beneficiaries on the housing demand database qualifying criteria. This allowed for the provision of backyarders, people with disabilities, and farm workers. The beneficiaries of Monday’s ceremony were recipients of this policy change.
The Western Cape Government’s energy crisis mitigation continues to change lives. In the last financial year, Minister Simmers committed to launching a pilot project to assist indigent households and beneficiaries with disabilities from five provincial housing projects with solar geysers to combat the effects of load shedding. The project has been so successful that it will continue in key projects going into the 2024/25 financial year. 540 are being fitted in the 2023/24 financial year with this renewable energy infrastructure.
Reflecting on the day’s proceedings Premier said. “Brick-by-brick, we are restoring dignity to the most vulnerable and deserving citizens in our province. These interventions are tangible proof of how we respond to the needs of our elderly and physically challenged residents. Apart from this, these specially designed homes represent our drive towards infrastructure-led growth, and are a key economic lever. I urge these deserving beneficiaries to turn their new houses into homes for themselves and their families, where future generations can be enabled to prosper.”
“Today reflected the Western Cape Government’s continued innovation to ensure no one is marginalised. Mrs. Dreyer now has access to running water and saves on energy consumption costs thanks to these solar geysers. It is clear we are on the right track with this initiative, and we will certainly continue with such investment in infrastructure to create an enabling environment for all our residents.” Said Minister Simmers
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